A transient was charged Tuesday with setting eight arson fires in Jack Fisher Park and the Santiago Creek area in Santa Ana.
Gustavo Abarca Garcia, a 26-year-old probationer, faces seven counts of arson of a forest and one count each of arson of property and vandalism, all felonies.
Garcia was arrested Friday afternoon following an arson fire at 900 W. River Lane, said Santa Ana police Cpl. Anthony Bertagna.
Santa Ana police increased patrols after neighbors complained to city officials at a public safety committee meeting on July 10 about fires being set at a creekbed next to Jack Fisher Park, Bertagna said.
“We were saturating the area for two days in a row,” he said. “When the River Lane fire happened Friday afternoon, we had 20-plus officers out there.”
Police had also shown photo lineups to witnesses and had identified the suspect prior to arresting him near where he allegedly set the fire on River Lane, Bertagna said.
A River Lane home was “feet from burning down,” and a trampoline on the property caught fire, he said.
Police identified 14 suspicious fires from June 10 through Friday, Bertagna said. A dozen were in Santa Ana and two were in Orange, Bertagna said.
According to court records, Garcia is charged with two arson blazes in Orange and six in Santa Ana. One of the fires was at 602 Park Lane on July 11.
When Garcia was arrested, he was on probation for disobeying a domestic relations court order. He pleaded guilty to the misdemeanor charge on July 12 of last year. He was placed on three years of informal probation, sentenced to 30 days in jail and ordered to participate in a batterers’ treatment program. But he repeatedly violated the terms of his probation and was sentenced to a total of 130 more days in jail, according to court records.