Molotov cocktail suspect arrested near Border Patrol checkpoint in Temecula
Edward Batties, 26, reportedly lobbed burning objects at two police parking lots, a school, a house and a truck.
Sunday, February 7, 2010
A man who allegedly threw Molotov cocktails at five targets over a 36-hour period in San Diego was arrested today after a chase up Interstate 15 to the Riverside County line, a San Diego Fire-Rescue Department official said.
Edward Batties, 26, reportedly lobbed burning objects at two police parking lots, a school, a house and a truck. He was arrested about 5:30 a.m. today near the Border Patrol checkpoint on Interstate 15 near Temecula.
Batties is jailed on suspicion of firebombing, arson, burglary, attempted burglary and evading officers charges, spokesman Maurice Luque of the SDFRD said.
Law enforcement officers said Batties threw Molotov cocktails, a gas can and other objects out of his car during the high-speed pursuit, which started at Del Mar Heights, according to Luque.
The San Diego man allegedly began his rampage Friday night when a Molotov cocktail was tossed into the parking lot of the San Diego police Mid- City Division station in City Heights, Luque said.
”The firebomb rolled under a car but didn’t start the car on fire,” Luque said.
He said the suspect also threw a firebomb at nearby Monroe Clark Middle School, but there was no damage.
Around 4 p.m. Saturday, a Chevrolet Silverado pickup truck was set aflame on Mission Bay Drive. The vehicle was destroyed, but no one was hurt, according to Luque.
”At that incident, witnesses gave police a description of a vehicle the person they believed started the fire drove away in,” Luque said.
The spree continued around 7:30 p.m. when a firebomb was tossed over a fence and into the parking lot of the SDPD Eastern Division station on Aero Drive, he said.
Shortly thereafter, a Molotov cocktail was thrown at a Serra Mesa house. While it broke a window, the device landed in a yard and burned itself out, causing minimal damage, he said.
A San Diego police officer responding to a reported vehicle burglary in Del Mar Heights spotted a vehicle matching the suspect’s description and started to chase it.
Luque said the California Highway Patrol joined the pursuit, which ended shortly after Batties drove over a spike strip at the inspection station near Rainbow, at the Riverside County line.
The fire official said he could not discuss any possible motive.
Tags: border patrol, Edward Batties, Maurice Luque, Molotov coctails, rainbow, San Diego Fire-Rescue Department, San Diego police, SDFRD spokesman Maurice Luque, SWRNN, Temecula, Uncategorized
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