A 47-year-old man was arrested on suspicion of arson Sunday afternoon by Santa Clarita Valley Sheriff’s Station deputies after being observed lighting a tree on fire, according to station officials.
The incident at the 25000 block of Avenida Rotella was reported to the station at 4:38 p.m., according to Deputy Robert Jensen, spokesman for the SCV Sheriff’s Station. It was reported to deputies that a man was pouring a flammable liquid on a tree at Old Orchard Park before lighting it on fire, Jensen said.
The man was arrested on suspicion of felony arson and booked at the SCV Sheriff’s Station. L.A. County Fire Department personnel put out the fire, which caused approximately $1,000 in damage, Jensen said.
The man is being held in lieu of $95,000 bail and he is due in court Tuesday at the San Fernando Courthouse, according to Jensen.
Last week, deputies arrested two suspects in connection to two separate arson incidents.
One was a Castaic man with a prior arrest record that included narcotics possession who is believed to be connected to an investigation into two separate dumpster-trash can fires, according to Jensen.
The other was a 29-year-old Newhall man who was seen by multiple witnesses near the pool area of the apartment complex in the 20900 block of Costa Brava in Newhall trying to stoke a fire, according to the arrest report. The man, suspected of being under the influence, was found near the incident and in possession of a lighter, drug paraphernalia and possibly methamphetamine, and confessed to the crime after being taken to the station, according to deputies.
