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Police arrest man for setting fire to Clearlake building
CLEARLAKE, Calif. – A Clearlake man has been arrested for setting fire to a red-tagged building on Monday.
Jason William Olson Jr., 19, was arrested on Tuesday morning, according to a report from Clearlake Police Sgt. Tim Hobbs.
Hobbs said that just after 5 p.m. Monday the Clearlake Police Department responded to a report of a structure fire near Emory Avenue and Lakeshore Drive.
Officers arrived on scene within one minute and found the abandoned red-tagged building at 14668 Lakeshore Drive was on fire, Hobbs said.
A few minutes later personnel from the Lake County Fire Protection District arrived and began to work on extinguishing the fire and preventing the spread of a small grass fire to other properties, he reported.
Hobbs said Officer Daniel Eagle spoke with witnesses and obtained a description of a person seen leaving the building shortly before they fire.
Based on the description, Hobbs said Officer Eagle believed the person was Olson.
Eagle prepared a photographic lineup which was shown to a witness who identified Olson as the person seen leaving the building, Hobbs said.
Hobbs said that at 8:40 a.m. Tuesday, Olson was contacted walking behind Safeway in Clearlake.
During an interview, Olson admitted to being in the building and accidentally starting the fire while smoking methamphetamine, Hobbs said.
Olson was arrested for unlawfully causing a fire and later transported to the Lake County Jail, according to Hobbs.
Jail records showed that Olson, whose job is listed as “landscaping,” remained in custody on Wednesday with bail set at $15,000. He is scheduled to be arraigned on Thursday.