Stockton man suspected of starting Northern California fire as retaliation
The man allegedly drove up to Palemo on Jun 28 with two people, and got into a "heated argument" with the resident on June 29, Cal Fire said.
After the argument, he allegedly set fire to the resident's property and drove back to Stockton, Cal Fire said.
According to Cal Fire, investigators identified 50-year-old Stockton resident Raymond Lee Wilson as a suspect. He was arrested on July 17 on a signed warrant, Cal Fire said.
He was arrested without incident and booked into the Butte County Jail on suspicion of arson to wildland and use of an accelerant, Cal Fire said. His bail was set to $150,000.
The fire burned one acre.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Associated Press
11 minutes ago
- Associated Press
California utility creates fund for victims of January's deadly Eaton Fire near LA
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Southern California Edison announced this week that it will create a fund to compensate victims of January's devastating Eaton Fire near Los Angeles. Investigators haven't yet determined a cause for the blaze that killed 19 people and destroyed more than 9,400 homes and other structures in Altadena. The creation of the Wildfire Recovery Compensation Program seems to suggest that the utility is prepared to acknowledge what several lawsuits claim: that its equipmentsparked the conflagration. 'Even though the details of how the Eaton Fire started are still being evaluated, SCE will offer an expedited process to pay and resolve claims fairly and promptly,' Pedro Pizarro, chief executive of Edison International, the utility's parent company, said in a statement Wednesday. 'This allows the community to focus more on recovery instead of lengthy, expensive litigation.' It is not clear how much money the utility will contribute to the fund, but a lawsuit filed by Los Angeles County in March claims that costs and damage estimates were expected to total hundreds of millions of dollars. SCE said the compensation program, which will go into effect this fall, would be open to those who lost homes, rental properties or businesses. It would also cover those who suffered injuries, were harmed by smoke or had family members who were killed. The plan is being created by administrators who helped form similar programs, including the September 11th Victim Compensation Fund of 2001. LA County previously won more than $64 million in a settlement with Southern California Edison over the 2018 Woolsey Fire. Investigators determined SCE's equipment sparked that blaze, and the utility also paid more than $2 billion to settle related insurance claims. Utility equipment has sparked some of the deadliest and most destructive fires in state history in recent years. Investigators are also working to determine the cause of the Palisades Fire, which broke out shortly before the Eaton Fire and killed 12 people and destroyed thousands of structures in Los Angeles.
CBS News
2 hours ago
- CBS News
DNA leads to an arrest 4 decades after murder, sexual assault of teens in California
Police have made an arrest in Arizona four decades after the cold-case murder and sexual assault of two teenagers who were attacked in a parked car in Northern California, officials said Wednesday. On December 19, 1984, the Shasta County Sheriff's Office was called to an incident in Burney, California by the California Highway Patrol. They found two 18-year-old victims, a male and a female, according to a news release from the office. The male victim, identified by police as Terrance Arndt, had sustained a gunshot wound. He was transported to an area hospital but died from his injuries. The female victim, who police did not identify, had been sexually assaulted. An investigation found that Arndt and the female victim were parked in Arndt's car talking near an area high school when an unknown person pulled up in a vehicle. Arndt tried to protect the female victim, but was shot. The female victim was then assaulted and left for dead, Shasta County Sheriff Michael L. Johnson said in a news conference. After the suspect left the scene, she drove Arndt's car for help until she was able to reach police. Johnson said that the crime "rocked the community for many years." An extensive investigation followed, Johnson said, including "thousands of hours" of case work. Detectives collected forensic evidence from the female victim's clothes, according to forensic genetic genealogy company Othram, and investigators also developed a DNA profile of the suspect. A man was arrested and charged in connection with the case, Othram said, but later cleared by the DNA profile. The DNA profile was entered into the Combined DNA Index System, a national database used by law enforcement to compare DNA profiles. There were no matches to any known individuals, Othram said. In 2024, the Shasta County Sheriff's Office revisited the case using forensic genetic genealogy, Johnson said. That led police to a suspect, identified as Roger Neil Schmidt Sr. Schmidt, now 64, would have been 23 at the time of the crime, police said. He also "strongly resembled" a sketch developed based on an account from the female victim, the sheriff's office said. Police determined that Schmidt was currently living in Tucson, Arizona but had lived in Burney, California in 1984. Detectives from the Shasta County Sheriff's Office traveled to the city to coordinate with the Tucson Police Department and obtain a search warrant. Police were able to collect a DNA sample from Schmidt and confirm that it matched the profile. Schmidt was arrested in Tucson on Saturday and charged with murder and sexual assault, police said. He made his first court appearance on Monday, CBS affiliate KOLD reported. He was in a wheelchair and using an oxygen tank. Schmidt is expected to be extradited to Shasta County, the sheriff's office said. Johnson said he hopes the arrest brings closure to the female victim and Arndt's family. He said that the families were informed of the arrest before the news conference. According to SFGate, Arndt was a star athlete at Burney High School before enrolling at Shasta College in Redding, California, where he lived at the time of his murder. "The resolution to this case is a bit bittersweet for us," Johnson said. "Although it's a monumental accomplishment for the investigators, for the agency and the closure of having a suspect in custody, it doesn't negate the fact that there is a family and families that have been forever impacted and will forever live with the trauma and the aftermath that was left behind for them."
CBS News
3 hours ago
- CBS News
Suspect in custody following late-night shooting in Homestead
A 37-year-old suspect is in custody after a late-night shooting in Homestead. According to Allegheny County Police, just before 11 p.m. on Wednesday night, county 911 was alerted to a shooting at a home on East 13th Avenue. Once first responders arrived on the scene, they found a man who had been shot in the leg. He was taken to the hospital in stable condition. After an investigation, police identified the suspect as 37-year-old Joseph Poole. He was charged with aggravated assault and recklessly endangering another person. Poole was taken into custody and taken to the Allegheny County Jail, where he is waiting for arraignment.
