A Guadalupe man was arrested outside the Santa Maria Police Department on Dec. 17 after he allegedly ignited the department’s lobby Christmas tree, causing major damages to the building.
Steven Minami, 23, arrived at the police department a little before 4 a.m. that morning, according to Lt. Terry Flaa, where the suspect used the lobby phone to make a report to the department’s communication center. The suspect said he thought someone had hacked into his computer and he reported feelings of paranoia, according to Santa Maria Police Department officials.
Within minutes of the call, Flaa said officers were dispatched to their own lobby, where Minami had allegedly placed the department’s Christmas tree on some chairs and lit it on fire, causing the building’s fire protection sprinkler system to go off.
Minami felt that a response to his report was taking too long, according to the department.
Officers found Minami outside the police department, where he was arrested and later booked into Santa Barbara County Jail on suspicion of felony arson, vandalism, and public intoxication shortly after the incident. The suspect’s bail was set at $250,000, according to the release.
While the sprinklers successfully extinguished the flames, Flaa said they also caused significant water damage to much of the lobby’s drywall and carpeting. Smoke from the fire also resulted in damages, although Flaa said it is still unclear how severe. Repairs to the lobby have already started.
The police department will replace the burned Christmas tree, and Flaa said a local tree vendor has already offered one free of charge.
“Which is really nice,” Flaa said.
This article appears in Dec 21-28, 2017.