Man charged with setting fire at California Home Depot

SAN JOSE, Calif. — A gentleman charged with setting a fire that gutted a Northern California Property Depot, prompted hundreds to flee and crammed the sky with smoke was striving to address up a theft of resources, authorities stated Tuesday.

Dyllin Jaycruz Gogue, 27, of San Jose, was arrested last Friday. He appeared in court docket Tuesday and was presented a public defender and a June 1 courtroom date to enter a plea. He was currently being held with no bail.

Gogue is accused of environment a hearth that commenced in the lumber section of the Property Depot in South San Jose on April 9. He was seeking to produce a distraction though making off with a cart comprehensive of tools but drove off without having them, prosecutors explained.

The 5-alarm fireplace ruined the store, causing an believed $17 million in hurt to the retail outlet contents. The hearth, which took about 100 firefighters 6 hrs to handle, sent up a big black plume of smoke. Individuals in nearby properties and businesses ended up instructed to stay inside of out of concerns that the smoke may incorporate harmful chemicals.

The fire burned near hundreds of residences and was so very hot that it was viewed by satellites, San Jose Mayor Sam Liccardo stated at a information conference.

Santa Clara County District Attorney Jeff Rosen mentioned the hearth erupted on a weekend when the retailer was complete of purchasers and he was thankful that his business office “is not prosecuting a various murder circumstance today.”

“Miraculously no 1 was harm,” he claimed. “But it arrived shut — significantly, much as well shut — to producing quite a few injuries and fatalities.”

Gogue allegedly stole objects from a Bass Professional Store prior to the fire, and he went on to steal from a Macy’s shop afterward, authorities claimed.

In addition to aggravated arson, he also is charged with grand theft and petty theft involving shoplifting at six South San Jose retailers in between very last Oct and April 2.

The new theft rates span from October 2021 to April 2, involving $17,000 really worth of merchandise from 6 South San Jose vendors. He could confront a opportunity everyday living sentence if convicted of all costs, prosecutors mentioned.