CLEARLAKE ? Clearlake Police arrested four people early Tuesday morning in connection to a series of fires that ignited between 11:52 p.m. Monday and 1:31 a.m. Tuesday. The arrests were made following a report from a witness.
“A witness to the last fire called police and reported seeing several subjects running from the location and laughing,” Lt. Mike Hermann reported. “Officers quickly responded to the scene and located the subjects a short distance away. During the investigation, all four of the subjects admitted involvement in the fires but did not give reasons for setting them.”
Jessie Patrick Meshreky, 18, and Robert Tyrrell Towns, 18, both of Clearlake were arrested along with a 17-year-old male and a 16-year-old female. Meshreky and Towns were booked into Lake County Jail on multiple counts of arson while the juveniles were booked into Lake County Juvenile Hall on the same charges.
According to Lt. Hermann, the fires started at approximately 11:52 p.m. Monday. In the first incident, fire personnel were dispatched to a field behind Pomo Elementary School where they discovered three separate fires, one involving an abandoned car, another a mattress and the third vegetation. At 12:30 a.m. officers discovered two additional vegetation fires behind the Calvary Baptist Church on Memory Lane. The third incident, which was witnessed, was reported at 1:31 a.m. It involved a vegetation fire located on the old Austin Park property.
According to Lt. Hermann, at least one of the subjects arrested is also believed to be responsible for a series of small fires that occurred throughout the City of Clearlake during the past several weeks. He said that investigation is ongoing.
Anyone with additional information pertaining to this case is asked to contact Officer Mike Ray at 994-8251.
Contact Denise Rockenstein at drockenstein@clearlakeobserver.com or call her directly at 994-6444, ext. 11.
