A 36-year-old guy was accused of trying to ignite both a San Bernardino County church’s school and a ribbon store on the same day.
National prosecutors announced on Wednesday that Albuquerque resident Jonathan Barajas Nava had been charged with the crime by a federal grand jury in the Central District of California. He was accused of two counts of attempted home loss using fire.
The series of events began soon after 1: 30 p. m. on April 24 in the area of Yucaipa, lawyers said.
Many 911 calls reported that a man used a gas can to enter the Retreat Church and Yucaipa Christian Pre-School, doused the entrance with liquid, lit it on fire, according to authorities.
There were 48 babies and 14 team people inside the building at the time, but nobody was injured, according to the indictment.
According to court papers, a cousin who witnessed the suspect set the fire attempted to expel the gas you and a door mat before rescuers arrived, but they were unsuccessful.
According to the documents, neighbors reported that the suspect was operating a pickup truck with a noisy pipe and wearing a hooded shirt at the time of the fire.
A 911 caller reported seeing a blaze at a strip mall about a mile away from the church shortly before 5 p.m. on the same day. The strip mall includes 11 company suites, including an optometrist center, plastic retail business, hair shop and a physical therapy company, according to court documents.
The optometrist center’s hearth was set near a string of gasoline meters along a wall. Authorities said there was a powerful gas smell in the air and burn marks on the road and wall when San Bernardino County sheriff’s deputies arrived on the scene after the fireplace was extinguished.
Deputies even found a black fuel is pipe near the oil meters, according to court papers.
Authorities said that the fire at the temple and the strip mall was both set up with a lighter and an combustible liquid, such as gasoline.
A 911 caller reported a pickup truck drivers being slammed into a chain-linked gate and revving their website immediately before 6 p.m. According to court documents, the pilot exited the vehicle and jumped on the gate, but he returned to the vehicle when a sheriff’s deputy arrived on the scene a few minutes after.
According to officials, the deputy instructed the truck driver to leave, but he did not appear to notice it, according to officials. The vehicle suddenly burst into flames as the deputy approached the car, and the lieutenant heard the vehicle scream. Barajas Nava was afterwards identified as the driver.
Nava fell to the ground after the lieutenant opened the vehicle entry.
According to court records, one of his limbs was on fire, and he rolled around on the floor to extinguish the fire. Barajas Nava appeared disoriented and unable to respond to any questions that were asked of him, according to the assistant handcuffed him.
By this time, the trailer was completely engulfed in flames. According to authorities, the lieutenant called firefighters to the scene after Nava was pulled from the flames. A dark scarf was also taken out of the vehicle by the deputy.
Nava was treated at the picture.
According to judge documents, researchers discovered that Nava was on parole after a July 2022 incident when he admitted to inciting a church in Albuquerque.
Specialists claim that about an hour after the blaze was first reported, police located Nava on his driver’s license close to the New Mexico church’s flames and located him there. He was standing about a mile from the temple when officers discovered him standing outside a vehicle that matched the description of a car that had been spotted close to the crime scene.
According to specialists, when deputies discovered Nava, he was attempting to start a petrol station blaze and walked away as officers pursued him. He led police on a high-speed chase and made an attempt to smash into several officers cars, according to officials.
He later crashed, ran away, grabbed an officer’s weapons and punched another official while he was placed under arrest, according to court documents.
At the time of Nava’s imprisonment on April 24 in San Bernardino County, authorities said he was violating his five-year supervision.
In connection with the Yucaipa instances, Nava is scheduled to appear in court on Tuesday in Riverside.
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