Palo Alto police arrested a man Saturday night, Nov. 10, on suspicion of starting two fires that afternoon within 50 minutes of each other along El Camino Real.
At about 4:18 p.m., a 911 caller reported a car on fire in the 400 block of Curtner Avenue in the Ventura neighborhood. Employees from a nearby business extinguished the flaming 2016 Jeep Wrangler before firefighters and police arrived, according to a police press release.
While officers were on scene investigating the incident, they observed a man walking toward the now-closed Compadres Mexican Bar & Grill, located a half-block away at 3877 El Camino Real.
At 5:08 p.m., an officer noticed smoke coming from the vacant building. Palo Alto Fire Department personnel who arrived and entered the old restaurant found a fire burning through the roof. Inside, they discovered the same man whom police had seen walking towards the Compadres earlier and rescued him from the fire, the press release states. No other people were inside.
The blaze was contained around 8:30 p.m. with the assistance of Mountain View Fire Department. Police shut down traffic on El Camino between Curtner and Ventura Avenue for several hours to allow fire personnel to work, the police said.
Paramedics transported the rescued man, 37-year-old Osvaldo Madrigal of Menlo Park, to a nearby hospital, where he received treatment for minor smoke-related injuries. No one else was injured in either fire.
Police investigators believe Madrigal may have been illegally squatting inside the Compadres building and was responsible for setting both fires, the press release states.
After receiving treatment at the hospital, Madrigal was booked into the Santa Clara County Main Jail for two counts of felony arson, misdemeanor trespassing (for entering the vacant building), and a felony probation violation. He is on probation out of Santa Clara County for assault with a deadly weapon.
Madrigal is being held at the Elmwood Correctional Facility in Milpitas without bail, according to online jail records. He is scheduled to appear in the Palo Alto courthouse on Tuesday afternoon.
Detectives and Palo Alto Fire Department arson investigators continue to investigate the cause and origin of both fires.
Anyone with information about these incidents is asked to call the city of Palo Alto dispatch center at 650-329-2413. Anonymous tips can be emailed to paloalto@tipnow.org or sent via text message or voicemail to 650-383-8984. Tips can also be submitted anonymously through the police department’s free mobile app, downloadable at www.bit.ly/PAPD-AppStore or www.bit.ly/PAPD-GooglePlay.
View videos of crews at the scene of the Compadres fire, courtesy of the Fire Department, on the agency’s Facebook page here and here.
Is he a citizen or undocumented immigrant? Who pays his hospital bill, the law enforcement, firemen, jail costs? Us, the taxpayers. Thanks, far leftists, for protecting non-citizens instead of helping American citizens. Soon, we will be paying all the costs of Honduran refugees too instead of helping our veterans who fought for our country. We should send undocumented immigrants into our military before they are allowed citizenship.
Thankfully PAFD was able to put out the fire without it spreading. You may have noticed the weather was windy yesterday. This could have easily spread into something much worse if not for the quick actions of the fire department.
The question that needs to be asked is why a Menlo Park resident would come all the way to Palo Alto to commit an arson spree. This individual could easily have walked across the street in his hometown and done the same, instead he decided to travel many miles to indiscriminately set things ablaze. There is a pattern of out-of-town maniacs coming to South Palo Alto to commit mayhem (first the Safeway incident, now this) so hopefully the police can get the full story.
Hmmm…the earlier thread pertaining to this incident included speculation as to whether this fire was caused by (1) a homeless person simply trying to keep warm; or (2) a possible arson attempt for insurance purposes.
Now it appears to be deliberate arson caused by an indigent out-of-towner who started not only one but two fires…a vehicle and a building.
Now wondering…were these fires created by a homeless individual with mental health issues or based on some sort of gripe? To burn down one’s temporary dwelling/haven doesn’t make sense and neither does igniting a parked car that doesn’t belong to you.
Didn’t this guy know it was a “spare the air” day? Hope they don’t give him bail…
I found this online article to be quite informative regarding firesetting, arson, and pyromania:
http://jaapl.org/content/40/3/355
What’s the story behind the Compadre’s building? How has it remained in such sorry shape so many years, while other property on El Camino has been redeveloped?
From what I found online it looks like the building was listed for rent and/or for sale in 2008 after the restaurant closed. It was listed for sale again in 2012-2013 as a redevelopment site. The new property owners did a preliminary review for a development in late 2013. They submitted an official application in late 2014 and kept resubmitting through 2017 when their application was deemed complete. The development was approved in 2017.
From the city website it appears they applied for demolition permits & building permits in June 2018.
from the PA Weekly article…
>>>Madrigal was booked into the Santa Clara County Main Jail for two counts of felony arson, misdemeanor trespassing (for entering the vacant building), and a felony probation violation. He is on probation out of Santa Clara County for assault with a deadly weapon.
Hopefully he will remain behinds bars for awhile longer and if found guilty, convicted to a state prison. My neighbors (along with myself) will now be keeping an eye out for suspicious-looking individuals like this. If they are not a local resident, we’re calling 911.
As in the words of Cheech and Chong.
Baliff wack his pee pee.
And I saw lock the bum up for a long time.
Give him 3 squares and a cot next 10yrs.
III
> He is on probation out of Santa Clara County for assault with a deadly weapon.
How reassuring. And an arson/pyromaniac to boot.