On Saturday, a suspected arsonist was arrested by Contra Costa County Fire and Antioch Police Department officers after setting at least 5-separate fires within the City of Antioch Friday and Saturday.
At least four fires were set in the area of Hillcrest Park off Larkspur Drive and threatened several homes.
The suspect matched the description provided to authorities and when the County Fire Investigator spotted a suspect matching that identification a foot pursuit pursued through Hillcrest Park. The suspect got into physical altercation with the investigator and Antioch police as they attempted to take him into custody. At one point, the suspect allegedly tried to take the investigators gun out of his holster while wrestling with the investigator.
This caused Antioch Police to use a taser on the suspect several times before taking him into custody. He was transported to a local hospital.
No other information was released as well as an earlier arson arrest of another individual occurred in the City of Concord after a suspected arsonist set several fires.
This came as CONFIRE announced this week is Arson Awareness Week and were recognizing its Fire Investigation Unit (FIU). FIU members come from many backgrounds, such as full-time fire and law enforcement service, as well as working in private fire investigation. In total, the FIU can be involved in over 1,000 investigations per year. Geographically, they’re responsible for 716 square miles across #ContraCostaCounty, serving you, a population of 1.3M residents.
Note – in March, CONFIRE announced two arrests for arson in Antioch and Bay Point
