East Bay Arson Suspect Targeted Friends From Wedding
CONCORD (CBS SF) -- An East Bay arson suspect who allegedly set a series of house and vehicle fires on and around Christmas Eve was in the process of checking off a list of targets that included groomsmen who participated in his own wedding, according to police.
"There was information that the people on the list he created were people that were in his wedding party," said Concord Police spokesman Corporal Chris Blakely. "It's unknown why he was targeting them."
33-year-old Walnut Creek resident Joshua Van Buskirk is in the Contra Costa County Jail charged with three counts of arson, three counts of possession of a destructive device and two counts of child endangerment. His bail is set at $1.2 million.
The child endangerment charges stem from the fire in the 4100 block of Churchill Drive in Concord on Christmas Eve.
Two children and two adults were at home asleep inside when the suspect used a Molotov cocktail to set the garage door of a single family home on fire, said Contra Costa County Fire Marshal Robert Marshall.
Fire damage is still visible on the outside of the garage door.
Another fire the same day in the 3600 block of Walnut Avenue in Concord, and one the previous day in the 400 block of Ridgewood Court in Antioch were found to be related, Marshall said. They were linked to a previous fire of a vehicle on October 12, 2015 in the 100 block of Gregory Lane in Pleasant Hill.
Investigators said Buskirk left behind some evidence at the crime scene that helped them solve the case. At the house on Churchill Drive where children were asleep, police said the suspect left two playing cards: the joker and the ace of spades.
Naseer Ahmadi, a neighbor of the Churchill Drive home, told KPIX 5 that the homeowner said he knew the suspect and was having trouble answering his son's questions about why they were targeted.
"'Daddy, why Uncle Josh tried to kill us?' And his Dad doesn't have an answer for his question," explained Ahmadi.
Van Buskirk is scheduled to go before a judge for a preliminary hearing on January 12th.
