A probationer who used a blow torch to set a fire between two homes in Normal Heights pleaded guilty Monday to an arson charge.
Enrique Madrigal, 26, will be sentenced to four years and four months in state prison at a hearing Jan. 8.
Madrigal was on probation for starting a fire in a local park when he was caught setting fire to brush and plants in an approximately two-foot area between houses in the 5100 block of North Mountain View Drive about 2 a.m. on Sept. 29.
“Fortunately, the victims’ dogs started barking and awoke them and alerted them to what was going on,” Deputy District Attorney Ted Fiorito said after Madrigal’s arraignment.
The prosecutor said Madrigal had a blow torch and some engine degreaser – – used to accelerate the fire — when he was arrested nearby.
Defense attorney Jamahl Kersey said Madrigal’s guilty was a fair resolution to the case.
The attorney called the arson between the two houses a random act. Madrigal pleaded guilty on the day of his scheduled preliminary hearing.
—City News Service
