Hollister
– Police arrested a Hollister man Thursday afternoon in
connection with the gang-related torching of a high school
student’s car a day earlier.
Hollister – Police arrested a Hollister man Thursday afternoon in connection with the gang-related torching of a high school student’s car a day earlier.
Melvin Carranza, identified by the Hollister Police Department as a 21-year-old Sureño associate, was arrested on suspicion of arson at 12:40pm Thursday, said Officer Rosie Betanio, a spokeswoman for the Hollister Police Department.
A 17-year-old Norteño associate’s Honda Civic parked on West and D streets near San Benito High School was set on fire at 2:50pm Wednesday, police said.
Sgt. Ray Wood said authorities were lucky to get a description of the suspect’s vehicle.
The witness told police that a white Nissan Sentra had pulled alongside the victim’s car Wednesday, Betanio said. A man broke the car’s window, threw a liquid inside the vehicle, set it ablaze and sped off in the white car, police said.
While driving on Monterey Street on Thursday, San Benito County Sheriff’s Deputy Rich Brown spotted the suspect’s vehicle. He called officers to help with the arrest.
Wood said an Aquafina water bottle was found in the suspect’s vehicle that possibly contained the flammable liquid used to start the blaze.
