Auburn man held on $1 million bail on suspicion of setting shed on fire, deputies say

An Auburn man was arrested Wednesday night after a shed was set on fire outside the foothills town.

In a news release, the Placer County Sheriff’s Office said Damian Cooks was taken into custody on suspicion of arson.

Deputies received a call regarding suspicious circumstances in the area of Bell Road and Bowman Road, just outside of Auburn late Wednesday night, and arrived to find a shed on fire.

The shed, which the Sheriff’s Office described as being “fully engulfed” in flames, sparked nearby vegetation, which Cal Fire personnel from the Nevada-Yuba-Placer Unit extinguished.

A Cal Fire investigation led deputes to Cooks. He was arrested on arson charges and booked into the South Placer Jail in Roseville. His bail was set at $1 million.

Placer County court records show that Cooks, 34, has a criminal record dating to at least 2005, ranging from petty burglary to assault and battery. Most recently, Cooks was charged with misdemeanor trespassing in 2018, for which he was sentenced to probation.