Photo: Jeffrey Navarro Reyes
MILPITAS – A wanted serial arsonist who had ignited fires in several areas, including abandoned buildings within the city beginning in the early weeks of October of 2017, was recently arrested.
The Milpitas Fire Department, Milpitas Police Department along with the San Jose Fire Department, and California Highway Patrol has announced the arrest of 26-year-old Jeffrey Navarro Reyes, a transient known in the area.
According to the Milpitas Fire Department, Reyes set fire to an abandoned Animal Hospital at 1316 S. Main Street. The fire was set in the early morning around 2:30 AM on October 14, 2017.
Other fires leading to the arrest of Reyes included a December 8, 2017, fire that burned an area near the empty Johnsville Mobile Home Park, at 1504 S. Main Street in Milpitas. The fire spread from brush surrounding the area to engulfing a palm tree on the property. Reyes then began lighting fires on December 9, 2017, near Hostetter Road and Montague Expressway along Interstate 680 located near the border of San Jose and Milpitas.
Reyes was booked into the Santa Clara County Main Jail for three counts of arson. It is believed he willfully and maliciously caused fourteen separate fires in the City of San Jose and Milpitas during his crime spree.
Anyone with information regarding this case or other cases involving Reyes are encouraged to call the Milpitas Police Department at (408) 586-2400.
