A Eureka man was found guilty recently of committing an arson in Ukiah earlier this year, the Mendocino County District Attorney’s Office reported.
According to the office of DA David Eyster, Mendocino County Superior Court jury found Benjamin Ervin James Dimmick, 27, of Eureka, “guilty of committing the arson of a commercial business structure, a felony, in a business park just north of Ukiah” in February of 2023.
Dimmick was also found guilty of second-degree burglary, and the jury also reportedly “found true a special allegation alleging that the arson was committed while one or more fire-related, Governor-initiated ‘state of emergency’ declarations had been issued and was/were still in effect here in Mendocino County.”
The DA also noted that a sentencing recommendation has been “deferred until a second felony trial involving the defendant, now scheduled for the middle of January, is either resolved by agreement of the parties, or tried before another jury.”
The law enforcement agency that investigated the burglary and arson was the Mendocino County Sheriff’s Office, and the DA also notes that “significant fire investigation work that began in February was followed up with fire expert testimony being presented to the jury Tuesday by Ukiah Valley Fire Authority Battalion Chief Justin Buckingham. Chief Buckingham also sat second chair to the DA throughout the trial and the reading of the verdicts.”
