Photo: David Anthony Pequeno
Originally published as a Hollister Police Department press release –
“HOLLISTER, CALIFORNIA – November 2, 2020 – The Hollister Police Department has made an arrest of a 21-year-old suspect in connection to the downtown fires and vehicle vandalisms.
On November 2, 2020, Police and Fire personnel responded to several reports of fires in the downtown area during the early morning hours.
The fires were suspicious and several calls of vehicle vandalisms involving slashed tires began to be reported.
Officers from the nightshift reviewed the downtown cameras and were able to see what looked like the same vehicle at two of the fire locations. Other officers from day shift recognized the vehicle as possibly being associated with someone they had recently come in contact with and developed possible suspect leads.
At around noon, Hollister Detective Melgoza and Torres were able to locate the possible suspect vehicle near the 200 block of San Benito Street. A surveillance was conducted with the assistance of Deputy Jason Leist of the San Benito County Arson Task Force. After some time, the suspect was located leaving in another vehicle and a felony car stop was conducted at about 2:00 pm.
The person of interest David Anthony Pequeño (21) was detained, the suspect vehicle was impounded and a search warrant was executed at his residence. At about 6:30 pm, Pequeño was booked at the San Benito County Jail for four counts of felony arson. His bail is set at $1,000,004.
Additional charges related to vehicle vandalism are pending. This is still an ongoing investigation and we would like to once again thank our partner agencies (Hollister Fire Dept., San Benito County Sheriff’s Office, Cal-Fire, ATF and Monterey County) for their ongoing assistance.
It is important to note, at this time, the investigation has revealed no information that indicate these arsons and vandalisms are in any way political or related to the election.
