La Mesa police announced on Tuesday that they arrested a man in connection with a fire set during rioting that took place in La Mesa in May after a day of peaceful protests.
Daniel Sandoval, 43, a Campo resident who faces charges of arson and vandalism, is accused of starting a fire at the Randall Lamb Associates building in downtown La Mesa following a day of peaceful protests.
The protests in La Mesa took place after the in-custody death of George Floyd in Minneapolis and the controversial arrest of a Black man, Amaurie Johnson, by LMPD Officer Matt Dages, a white officer, near a trolley stop in La Mesa. All charges against Johnson were later dropped.
Police said the fire at the Randall Lamb Building was intentionally set during the rioting on the night of May 30.
Sandoval's arson arrest comes in the wake of two others early last month.
Agents with the San Diego FBI field office released a statement Nov. 3 in conjunction with the La Mesa and San Diego police departments, saying that San Diego resident Alexander Jacob King, 19, had been taken into custody, accused of the arson of the Chase Bank in La Mesa the same May night. Officials said that King was booked on charges of arson of a structure and looting.
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Photos: La Mesa Protest on May 30, 2020
The Chase Bank and a nearby Union Bank branch in the 4750 block of Spring Street were destroyed after they were broken into and set on fire.
Also arrested in November was another San Diego man, Ricky Bernard Cooper, 33. Agents said he was booked on four counts of looting as well as a felony charge of arson of a structure.
Sandoval's bail has been set at $500,000.
