Turlock PD: Second suspicious fire in as many months leads to arson arrest
ABOVE: J.D. Dwaine Lucas booking photo | Turlock PD
A Turlock man has been arrested in connection to two incidents of alleged arson and willful cruelty and harm to children, according to police.
On the morning of Wednesday, June 2, officers responded to the 500 block of Sunnyside Drive to investigate a report of arson. A neighbor had seen the fire and, knowing there were people inside, ran across the street to wake them. All occupants — three adults and three children — made it out safely.
Shortly afterward, fire personnel informed officers that the fire had been started by an incendiary device that had been thrown.
It turned out that this had been the second fire in as many months at the same residence, in the same manner of origin. Police say the previous one had occurred on May 24, and had been put out by the residents themselves.
On June 21, the detective assigned to the case identified 37-year-old J.D. Dwaine Lucas as the primary suspect in both fires. He was located that same day and taken into custody without incident on suspicion of two counts of arson on an inhabited dwelling and six counts of willful harm or injury to a child — all felonies.
He remains in custody at the Stanislaus County Jail.
