NORTH COAST, Calif. – Authorities have arrested a woman on suspicion of setting more than a dozen roadside fires in the Geyserville area of Sonoma County on Tuesday.
Maria Acevedo, 26, of Geyserville was arrested on Tuesday evening, according to a report from Sgt. Spencer Crum of the Sonoma County Sheriff's Office.
Crum said that at 9 p.m. Tuesday Sonoma County Sheriff's deputies were called to the 13300 block of Skaggs Springs Road in Geyserville to assist a Cal Fire battalion chief with an arson investigation.
When the deputies arrived, they found that the battalion chief had detained a woman, identified as Acevedo, for setting fires in the area, Crum said.
During the course of the sheriff's office investigation, Crum said deputies learned that an alert property owner came across Acevedo, who was setting fires along the road.
Crum said the property owner stopped her from lighting the current fire and sought her assistance to put it out while he called for help.
Acevedo claimed to have been dropped off by her boyfriend in the very remote region of Sonoma County and she was setting fires so someone would come and help her, according to Crum.
“We determined that the woman set approximately 13 spot fires along the side of the road that encompassed a total of two acres burned,” Crum said. “During a search of her purse we located ammunition which she is not legally allowed to possess due to a previous felony conviction.”
The Cal Fire battalion chief was able to extinguish all the fires and Acevedo was arrested for arson, felon in possession of ammunition and an outstanding arrest for a drug-related charge, Crum said.
Crum said Acevedo was booked into the Sonoma County Jail and is being held on $45,000 bail.