From Contra Costa County Fire Protection District:
Contra Costa County Fire Protection District (Con Fire) today announced the arrest of an accused arsonist in connection with several fires set at a business in Martinez the evening of March 10, 2021.
Fabian Vera, 36, a transient, was arrested in Bay Point on March 16 following an arson investigation conducted by the Contra Costa County Fire Protection District’s Fire Investigation Unit.
At 7:20 p.m. on March 10, Con Fire responded to a report of a fire at 4901 Pacheco Boulevard in Martinez, arriving crews finding and extinguishing several fires apparently set on the property. The fires had potential to cause significant structural damage, according to investigators, however they were quickly contained.
Con Fire’s on-duty investigator responded and located three separate fires: one burning a Ford F-250 utility truck and an outdoor storage rack containing spools of telecom cable, another inside a wheelbarrow approximately 30 feet from the burned vehicle and under a large roof overhang covering an exterior storage area, which was also damaged.
A third fire was located next to a stack of lumber elsewhere in the storage yard. More than $75,000 in damage was sustained as a result of the fires, according to investigators.
Investigators determined the business had been having problems with a recently terminated employee and obtained surveillance video showing Vera within the closed commercial facility vandalizing property and leaving the area at the time the fires had been set.
Con Fire investigators obtained a warrant for Vera’s arrest and made contact with him on March 16, subsequently arresting him on the warrant. He was booked into the Martinez Detention Facility where he was interviewed. Fire investigators presented the case to the District Attorney for a filing decision.
Vera remains in custody and is scheduled to be arraigned today, Tuesday, in Contra Costa County Superior Court
