‘Suspicious man’ started 4 fires near North Bay elementary school: police

( KRON ) — A man was arrested for starting a series of fires near a Santa Rosa middle school throughout the third week of September, police said. The Santa Rosa Police Department has since identified and arrested James Conforti, a 61-year-old Santa Rosa resident, as the suspect.

Between Sept. 16 and Sept. 20, the Santa Rosa Fire Department responded to a series of fires in the area of Southwest Community Park located at 1698 Hearn Ave. Police said these fires were usually started in the afternoon throughout different areas of the park.

SRFD contained the first three fires, about an acre large, with no structures damaged. “Because the previous three fires had been started in such close proximity in location and time of each other, SRFD maintained a heavy presence in the areas around Southwest Community Park on Friday,” police said.

On the fourth fire on Sept. 20, a fire spreading near Meadow View Elementary School — adjacent to the park — burned to “the rear of the school’s property” before being extinguished, SRPD said. Students and staff at MVES were instructed to shelter in place “during and after the fire due to heavy smoke in the area.”

SRPD said no person or structure was injured or damaged. Students and staff’s shelter-in-place was lifted once the smoke cleared.

After extinguishing the fire, SRPD said they noticed a “suspicious man” in the area. “The Fire Inspector attempted to contact the suspicious male however he left abruptly avoiding contact,” police said.

With a description of the man and his vehicle, detectives from the SRPD Property Crimes Investigations Team (PCI) responded and took over the investigation. Investigators said they were able to “quickly” locate Conforti’s vehicle parked at a hotel on Corby Avenue.

Later on Friday, at approximately 10 p.m., detectives authored search warrants at Conforti’s hotel room. Through matching witness descriptions and finding “several lighters,” Conforti was brought to SRPD and interviewed by detectives for further investigation.

Conforti was arrested and booked into the Sonoma County Jail for four counts of arson, with a bail enhancement of $150,000.

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