A “known transient” was arrested after an arson fire damaged a wine storage facility on Arroyo Way Sunday night. Police said surveillance cameras caught the suspect at the scene. NEWS24-680 reported the outbreak of fire in a strip mall at 1207 Arroyo Way in Walnut Creek at 9:20 p.m. Sunday, firefighters finding a gas can and evidence of the spread of accelerant in a wine storage facility at the scene.
Walnut Creek police said a review of area surveillance cameras found tape of a known transient, Arthur Holden, 49, at the scene of the fire. Officers located Holden behind 1150 N. Civic Drive and reportedly found physical evidence as well as stolen property from the wine storage facility nearby. Holden was arrested Sunday on charges of arson, commercial burglary, and a parole violation and was taken into custody without further incident, police said.
Police and fire officials said “thousands” of bottles of wine appeared to have been destroyed in the fire. The cost of the damage was not immediately available.
