tags: Attack Church, Timeline, wildfires, arsonist, sex offender
January 8-12 2014 San Jose Serial Arsonist Sets Dozen Fires in a Week Greater Saint John Baptist Church on E. San Antonio St. in San Jose was damagedby arson, and another fire was set on the property on Sunday January 12. A series of fires have been evidently set by the same person in the Roosevelt, Little Portugal, Wooster and Five Wounds neighborhoods, as well as the eastern parts of the Brookwood Terrace, Naglee Park and Northside neighborhoods near downtown San Jose, California. January 13 was the first time in six days there were no suspicious fires after a string of 12 suspicious fires over five consecutive days. A string of a dozen intentionally set fires from Jan. 8 to jan. 12, including a five-alarm blaze on Jan. 9 that destroyed a 125,000-square-foot warehouse. Firefighters originally said that the warehouse fire was not connected to the serial arsons. An officer searched through databases of registered arsonists until he found one that looked like a sketch, and Patrick William Brennan was arrested on January 15 after surveillance.
The suspect has 2001 conviction for sexually assaulting a minor. He was a registered arsonist in Campbell. In 1995 he was convicted on misdemeanor charge for setting fire to forest debris in and around the Grand Canyon National Park. He set 16 fires in Santa Clara County's western hills on or near hiking trails in 1999, leading to a year in jail. At the time he pled guilty, and sought mental counseling for his dyslexia, and told a TV reporter ""I'm not just some crazed maniac going out there trying to destroy their properties or their lives" he said."
A blaze Saturday the 11th burned an elderly couple out of their Victorian style home. All of the fires flared up between the hours of 2 a.m. and 6 a.m. and fire officials have declared that at least eight of the fires were started intentionally. The story was covered by NBC television news on January 14.
*Timeline
- 2001 conviction for sexually assaulting a minor.
- Mid 1990s on a misdemeanor charge for setting fire to forest debris in and around the Grand Canyon National Park
- 1999: Set 16 fires in Santa Clara County's western hills on or near hiking trails in 1999, leading to a year in jail.
- January 2014 A string of a dozen intentionally set fires from Jan. 8 to jan. 12,
- January 9, 2014 five-alarm blaze destroys a 125,000-square-foot warehouse.
- January 15, 2014 arrested
Reference: San Jose Mercury News
- Jan 18:
- San Jose arsons: An inside look at the investigative work that led to arsonist's capture
- Jan 16:
- Live blog recap: San Jose police identify arson suspect
- Video: Serial arsonist press conference
- San Jose: Convicted arsonist and sex offender blamed for string of fires
- Jan 15:
- San Jose arson suspect arrested
- Jan 14:
- San Jose: Second night without arson fire; search for suspect continues
- Jan 13:
- Map: Suspicious fires in San Jose
- San Jose's arsonist: Strolling the streets of his targets
- San Jose: No suspicious fires Monday morning, but hunt for serial arsonist continues
- Jan 12:
- Mystery deepens about identity of San Jose arsonist
- San Jose arson: Two more suspicious fires investigated early Sunday morning
- Jan 11:
- Hunt for arsonist: San Jose on edge amid string of fires
- Two-alarm fire burns Victorian-style home in San Jose
- Jan 10:
- San Jose: String of fires investigated as possible arson
- Jan 9:
- San Jose couple safely escape burning home
- San Jose: Massive warehouse blaze brings area to a standstill
- Jan 8:
- San Jose: Garage fire sends two to hospital, displaces seven
- No damage to San Jose church after debris fire on property
*Sources
San Jose arson fires: Patrick William Brennan confesses ...
www.mercurynews.com/.../san-jose-arson-fires-s...
San Jose Mercury News
San Jose: Convicted arsonist and sex offender blamed for ...
www.mercurynews.com/.../san-jose-arrest-serial-...
San Jose Mercury News
Patrick William Brennan, San Jose Serial Arson Suspect ...
www.nbcbayarea.com/.../Patrick-William-Brennan-San-Jose-Serial...
KNTV
Patrick William Brennan, San Jose Serial Arson Suspect, in ...
www.nbcbayarea.com/.../San-Jose-Police-Arrest-Serial-Arsonist-2...
KNTV
Interview with serial arsonist in 1999 showed deep-seated ...
At that time, he was called the South Bay Arsonist.
His answers at the time provide fascinating insight into what drove him to this point now.
Handa asked Brennan what he wanted people to think of him since he’d granted KTVU the interview. Brennan answered in a polite but tormented voice.
"I'm not just some crazed maniac going out there trying to destroy their properties or their lives" he said.
"What are you? Who are you?" Handa asked.
"[Laugh] Well, actually I'm a fairly nice person I guess. I'm just someone with problems who needs help," Brennan responded.
At the time he had already been convicted for setting fires as a worker at the Grand Canyon and his South Bay targets, then, were outdoor sites.
"I don't know, I guess it was more if a stress reliever," Brennan said. "I hit areas I didn't think would burn as bad as they did."
After his 1999 arrest, Brennan was taken into custody for sexual battery on a relative and ended up having to register in California as a past sex and arson offender.
Those registry listings helped lead investigators to him this week.
The fires he's accused of setting now have been much more severe and his psychological condition will be examined again.
In 1999, KTVU asked Brennan if there was anything in his background to explain some if his behavior.
"I don't know,” he said. "I have been diagnosed with severe learning disabilities. I have dyslexia."After that interview, Brennan went to court and pleaded guilty and asked for psychological help.
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Patrick William Brennan was booked on two counts of felony ...
www.latimes.com/.../la-me-ln-san-jose-serial-arsonist-...
Los Angeles Times
Suspect arrested in downtown San Jose arson fires - Los ...
articles.latimes.com/2014/jan/.../la-me-ln-san-jose-serial-arson-20140116
http://www.nbcbayarea.com/news/local/San-Jose-Police-Arrest-Serial-Arsonist-240537521.html
Jan 17, 2014 • Updated at 11:04 AM PDT
San Jose police have identified a serial arson suspect who
is a registered sex offender as well as a "registered" arsonist
who was convicted for setting a fire at Grand Canyon National Park nearly 20 years agon 1999, a suspect identified as Patrick Brennan, who was 33 at the time, was arrested by the California Department of Forestry in connection with a string of 16 fires set in the hills above Los Gatos, Cupertino and San Jose, according to several media reports including this article in MetroActive Registered arsonists, like registered sex offenders, must log in at their city police departments if they have been convicted of arson. The list is maintained by the California Department of Justice, which notes in its annual report that 7,500 properties were destroyed by arson in 2012 compared to 11,400 in 2007. In the same time period, 940 people were arrested statewide on arson charges in 2012, compared to 1,030 in 2007. (PDF)
.
Brennan then laid low, bouncing between motels on Monterey Road and buoyed by a conservator who, tasked with overseeing his ailing mother and him, paid his rent and put a weekly stipend of about $125 into his bank account to help offset his chronic joblessness.
Since May, he has lived at an East San Antonio Street mobile home park,
patrol Sgt. Jason Kidwell, who at the end of a shift last weekend combed through law-enforcement databases, including one of registered arsonists in California. Kidwell came across a photo of a man who lived in the middle of the arson zone and resembled a police sketch and home-surveillance images: Brennan.
The discovery prompted police surveillance of Brennan starting last Sunday, ending with his arrest three days later. Brennan surrendered peacefully and then freely admitted to setting the fires,
- San Francisco Chronicle - 3 days ago
- Albany Times Union - 4 days ago
A second suspicious fire was reported in the lot of a church in the area of South 26th and East San Antonio streets, not far from the first fire..Congregants of the African-American church at the corner of South 26th ... "Keep your eyes and ears open," The second fire was spotted at an outbuilding just before 5 a.m. at the Greater Saint John Baptist Church at 1230 E. San Antonio St., which had been damaged by another arson fire on Wednesday, Brown said.
- San Jose Mercury News - 1 day agoCongregants of the African-American church at the corner of South 26th ... "Keep your eyes and ears open," San Jose Fire Department Capt. Parishioners of San Jose's Greater St. John The Baptist Church surveyed the unfathomable destruction of their storage trailer on Sunday morning, the second strike against their tidy church and the latest in a wave of arson plaguing a modest downtown neighborhood."We'll get through this. We'll survive," said one church official, who would not give his name. Congregants of the African-American church at the corner of South 26th and East San Antonio streets, dressed in their Sunday best, gazed at the structure's damage -- repaired by plywood after last Wednesday morning's blaze and now further charred.
- San Francisco Chronicle - 1 day ago
- abc7news.com - 1 day ago
San Jose arson: Two more suspicious fires investigated early Sunday
www.mercurynews.com/.../san-jose-two-suspicious-fires-investigated-ear...
No damage to San Jose church after debris fire on property - San ...
www.mercurynews.com/.../no-damage-san-jose-church-after-debris-fire
San Jose arson: Two more suspicious fires investigated early ...
www.mercurynews.com/.../san-jose-two-suspicious-fires-investigated-ear...
http://www.mercurynews.com/breaking-news/ci_24900310/san-jose-firefighters-respond-structure-fire-near-alum January 13, 2013 For the first time in six days... no suspicious fires had occurred overnight...ended a string of 12 suspicious fires over five consecutive days, including a blaze Saturday morning that burned an elderly couple out of their Victorian style home...all of which occurred between the hours of 2 a.m. and 6 a.m. Firefighters have said at least eight of the fires were started intentionally.
Reward Posted for Suspected Serial Arsonist in San Jose - ABC News
News for san jose serial arsonist
- NBC Bay Area - 6 hours agoA new fire Monday morning near Alum Rock Park ignited fresh fears that a serial arsonist is still setting blazes across San Jose, with roughly a ...
Serial arsonist unnerves San Jose residents after 13 fires - latimes ...
www.latimes.com/.../la-me-ln-san-jose-serial-arsonist-20140113,0,46106...
Serial arsonist on the loose in San Jose - Videos - CBS News
www.cbsnews.com/.../serial-arsonist-on-the-loose-in-san-jose/?...
Images for san jose serial arsonist
- Report images
San Jose: No suspicious fires Monday morning, but hunt for serial ...
www.mercurynews.com/.../san-jose-firefighters-respond-structure-fire-ne...
Hunt For San Jose Serial Arsonist Intensifies « CBS San Francisco
sanfrancisco.cbslocal.com/.../san-jose-serial-arsonist-...
1 day agoSJFD Capt. Rob Brown said 11 of 13 fires that broke out in downtown San Jose were intentionally set. They ...
San Jose Residents Keep Watch For Serial Arsonist « CBS San ...
sanfrancisco.cbslocal.com/.../san-jose-residents-keep...
8 hours agoResidents in several San Jose neighborhoods pledge to keep watch through the night as the search continues ...
Police on the hunt for suspected arsonist in California - CNN.com
www.cnn.com/2014/01/12/us/california-fires/
Elderly San Jose couple escape fire linked to serial arsonist - SFGate
www.sfgate.com/.../Elderly-San-Jose-couple-escape-fire-linked-to-51348...
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