Police are asking for help from the public to identify the suspect or suspects who “severely damaged” a Hollister apartment complex by setting off an illegal fireworks explosion on Independence Day, authorities said.
The Hollister Police Department announced on July 13 that the city is offering a $1,000 reward for information leading to the identification and prosecution of the person or persons responsible for the incident.
About 10:13pm July 4, Hollister Police responded to the area of the 1000 block of Del Rio Court for a report of a large explosion outside an apartment complex. When officers arrived, they observed a “severely damaged concrete staircase” leading to the second floor of the apartment building, police said.
Police said residents of the building had to be assisted from their homes due to the structure damage.
Investigators determined that multiple people had been setting off illegal fireworks outside the building, when one of them hit the residence, police said. The impact of the incendiary device shattered windows and broke door frames throughout the building.
“Due to the severe structure damage to the apartment, Code Enforcement Officers and the building department were forced to red tag the building,” Hollister Police said. “The residents were displaced from their homes. Luckily, there were no injuries as a result of the explosion as many people were not home during the incident.”
Hollister Police are now asking the public for help identifying those who set off the fireworks that caused the July 4 damage. Anyone with information can call the Hollister Police Department at 831.636.4330. Those wishing to remain anonymous can call WeTip at 800.78.CRIME.
Police said the investigation is ongoing.
Hollister PD is offering a reward of $1,000 for information leading to the identity and conviction of the person or people who set off the illegal fireworks that caused the residential structure damage.
The incident was one of scores of reports of the illegal use of fireworks in Hollister during the July 4 holiday period. From July 4-7, the Santa Cruz Regional Dispatch system documented 601 reported incidents in Hollister, local police said. Of these, Hollister Police received more than 78 calls reporting illegal fireworks.
The city’s fireworks enforcement team—which consisted of police, code enforcement and animal control officers—cited 33 people in Hollister for possessing, lighting or facilitating the use of fireworks, police said.
During the same period, the Hollister Police patrol team made 161 traffic stops and 22 arrests, the department said. Seven of these were for DUI, and 95 were for traffic misdemeanor and traffic citations.
Really, multiple mortars were lit on the apartment complex grounds(more than likely courtyard) and nobody knows who did it?
This was not the case of a random single mortar. Many where shot from the same local before the explosion. The staircase was blown up by an ascending mortar!
Not calling the authorities during this event makes people present culpable.
I have never seen ANYBODY light LEGAL fireworks from their driveway let alone mortars. It’s always done away from homes for a reason.