A transient accused of igniting small fires outside the Banning Police Department was charged Thursday with arson and other offenses.
Kenneth James Joshua Baker, 40, was arrested and booked into the Smith Correctional Facility Tuesday following a Banning police investigation that was initiated immediately after the fires were extinguished.
Along with arson, Baker is charged with a sentence-enhancing allegation of being in possession of ignition devices used to perpetrate arson.
The defendant, who is being held in lieu of $50,000 bail, was slated to make his initial court appearance Thursday at the Banning Justice Center.
According to police, sometime after 4 p.m. Tuesday, Baker allegedly lit a small fire in front of the police station at East Ramsey and North Alessandro streets, and then ignited another nominal fire near the rear of the facility.
“Both fires were put out by police and city staff,” police Capt. Brandon Smith said. “The investigation also showed that Baker attempted to start a third fire to the front of the station, but was unsuccessful, and he attempted to disable the vehicle access gate to the station, and attempted to place a metal compressed gas tank in the driveway to the station.”
No damage was reported.
Officers checked security surveillance video images and confirmed Baker’s identity, recognizing him as a local homeless man, according to Smith.
He said patrol personnel tracked the itinerant to an intersection roughly four blocks to the west, where he was taken into custody without incident just after 5 p.m. Tuesday.
A possible motive for the defendant’s alleged acts was not mentioned.
He has no documented prior felony convictions in Riverside County.