By Neil Farrell ~
A local transient man was arrested for suspicion of arson, after he allegedly tried to light a gas station on fire.
According to SLOPD Capt. Keith Storton, at about 6:30 p.m. Tuesday, March 15, officers were dispatched to the Shell Station at 204 Madonna Rd., to investigate a possible arson.
“Officer’s located evidence that was consistent with an individual trying to start a fire next to one of the gas pumps,” said Capt. Storton in a news release. Video surveillance captured the suspect’s actions and “confirmed their attempt to maliciously start a fire” at about 2 a.m. on the 15th. Fortunately, the fire did not cause any significant damage and was extinguished on its own relatively quickly.”
The video showed the suspect removing the diesel pump handle, stuffing it with paper towels and setting it on the ground before lighting the paper on fire. The blaze briefly flared but died as the handle’s fire safety devices apparently worked as designed.
It probably helped a great deal that the suspect had not paid to activate the pump so fuel would actually come out.
The suspect also allegedly went around the station and tried to light a similar fire at a huge propane tank the station uses to fill smaller customer tanks. It too did not catch, probably because of fire safety devices on the tank. The video also quickly did its job.
“The video was circulated within the police department for a possible identification of the suspect,” Capt. Storton said. “An alert officer was familiar with the suspect as they recalled the suspect being contacted in the area prior to the start of the fire. The officer also recalled the clothing worn by the suspect was identical to the clothing worn by the suspect in the video surveillance.”
Ironically, the suspect was already in custody, having been arrested by SLOPD on unrelated charges just a few hours after the arson incidents. In that incident, the suspect was charged with “the misuse of 9-1-1, possession of drug paraphernalia and probation violation,” Capt. Storton said.
The suspect, Daniel Delgado, 28, was still in County Jail when he was ID’d and a new charge of suspicion of felony arson was filed against him. He is also a suspect in several other recent suspected arson cases that are similar to this one.
San Luis Obispo has had a serious problem with arsons, many of which involve abandoned furniture like sofas and easy chairs left on the street by moving students, which are set afire. Perhaps a hundred of what are considered “nuisance” fires have been set over the past several years.
Capt. Storton was asked if Delgado was a suspect in the March 2010 Cabo San Luis Fire, which destroyed a restaurant located next door to another Shell Station at Foothill Boulevard and Santa Rosa Street.
That was also a place where homeless people slept underneath the building built on stilts. That case remains unsolved but has been declared an arson. Capt. Storton said they have nothing at this time to connect Delgado to that blaze, but it will be investigated.
Ironically, the Cabo San Luis Fire was the second time that same building was destroyed by arson. In 1984, the building was a Burger King Restaurant and was torched by an employee trying to cover up a theft.