Sheriff’s Office: Man accused of setting mother’s home on fire displayed signs of intoxication
A Mendocino County man has been arrested on suspicion of arson after allegedly setting a fire in his home while under the influence of alcohol, according to the Sheriff’s Office.
On the evening of March 13, a deputy responded to the 4800 block of North State Street in Ukiah on a report of a possibly intoxicated person behaving erratically. By the time the deputy arrived the man had apparently gone, but dispatch soon advised that the original caller had called again to report that the same man had just lit a fire inside a residence.
The deputy, who by this time had also left the area, returned to see a column of smoke rising from a single family dwelling. The deputy approached to find that the person who’d called dispatch was also present and trying to keep the subject in question, later identified as 38-year-old Pedro Reynaga, from leaving.
Reynaga, who lived at the home with his mother, was reportedly displaying signs of being under the influence of a central nervous system stimulant and smelled strongly of alcohol.
The deputy forced open the door to see if anyone else was inside, but excessive heat and smoke prevented him from entering. Fortunately, it turned out that Reynaga’s mother wasn’t home at the time; she later arrived at the scene unharmed.
Reynaga was later arrested on suspicion of arson and booked on $100,000 bail.
