Garbage truck driver arrested in connection to 2019 Sandalwood Fire
A 38-year-old garbage truck driver
has been arrested in connection with the Sandalwood Fire, a 2019 blaze that burned more than 1,000 acres and killed two people in Calimesa, Cal Fire officials announced Monday,
Antonio Ornelas-Velazquez has been charged with two counts of involuntary manslaughter and one count of unlawfully causing a fire that causes great bodily injury, officials said.
Ornelas-Velazquez was taken into custody in Desert Hot Springs on Saturday, according to Riverside County jail records.
Ornelas-Velazquez is accused of operating a garbage truck that dumped a burning load of trash next to dry vegetation, leading to the blaze that destroyed 72 structures and damaged another 16, officials said. The embers were picked up by high Santa Ana winds blowing through the area on a day when a red flag warning was in effect.
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Trash truck driver arrested for setting 2019 deadly Calimesa wildfire
A suspect has been arrested in connection to the 2019 sandalwood fire in Calimesa.
Authorities have arrested a suspect in connection to the 2019 Sandalwood fire in Calimesa, to the west of the Coachella Valley and Beaumont.
Antonio Ornelas-Velazquez, 38
In a CalFire statement, investigators said they arrested Antonio Ornelas-Velazquez, 38, Saturday on Santa Rosa Road in Desert Hot Springs.
Firefighters said Ornelas-Velazquez was driving a trash truck that caught fire and ignited the 1,011 acre wildfire.
The blaze broke out about 2 p.m. October 10 at Sandalwood Drive and
Seventh Street, near the I-10 exit ramp. A burning load of trash was dumped next to tinder dry brush on the hot and windy day.
Garbage truck driver charged in Sandalwood fire that killed 2
The 1,000-acre Sandalwood fire in October 2019 moved through the Villa Calimesa Mobile Home Park, killing two women.
(Carolyn Cole / Los Angeles Times)
Feb. 16, 2021 10:25 AM PT
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A Calimesa man has been arrested in connection with a brush fire in Riverside County that killed two people and destroyed dozens of homes in 2019, authorities said.
Antonio Ornelas-Velazquez, 38, was arrested Saturday and charged with involuntary manslaughter and unlawfully causing a fire resulting in great bodily injury, according to a spokesperson with the Riverside County district attorney’s office. After posting $75,000 bond, Ornelas-Velazquez was released Sunday, according to jail records.