An arsonist who set three fires in a Chula Vista apartment complex pleaded guilty to setting one fire and asked for immediate sentencing. The judge gave it to him: three years in state prison.
Daniel F. Behrens Jr., 24, pleaded guilty to one arson charge involving a fire he set on Nov. 1, 2009, at 2:30 a.m. at apartments on Granjas Road near Naples Street. The fire he set in one apartment was vacant, but the other two burned only the apartments’ doors.
Deputy District Attorney David McNees said Behrens did not ever live at the complex and nobody could find a motive for setting the fires other than alcohol playing a role. He said Behrens had no previous felony conviction.
“He was pretty intoxicated when he was arrested,” said McNees. McNees said Behrens did give a statement to police that said he had wanted to be a firefighter since he was a little boy.
A Chula Vista Police officer spotted Behrens running from the first floor unit where he had set it aflame and saw two other apartment doors and screens which had been set on fire.
Chula Vista Superior Court Judge Esteban Hernandez gave Behrens credit for already serving four months in jail since his arrest by Chula Vista Police that same night.
The judge dismissed other charges that included possession of an incendiary device, attempted arson and trespassing.
