Man arrested after setting tent on fire and injuring woman inside, Placerville police say
Investigators have arrested a Placerville man suspected of dousing a tent with flammable liquid and setting it on fire, seriously injuring a woman who was sleeping inside, police said.
Jacob William Vargas was arrested on suspicion of attempted murder, arson causing great bodily injury and aggravated mayhem, the Placerville Police Department announced in a news release Tuesday.
Vargas, 25, also faces a charge of a trying to escape from custody. Police said Vargas ran from a police vehicle but was captured soon after. He was being held without bail at the El Dorado County Jail on Wednesday.
Vargas was arrested after a two-month investigation that began Jan. 1, when the woman was injured in the tent fire. Around 4:15 a.m. that day, police officers were called to the Marshall Medical Center emergency room for a report of a woman who arrived there with severe burns on her body.
She told the officers she had been sleeping in a tent under the Placerville Drive extension bridge when she heard a loud explosion. She immediately realized the tent she was in was engulfed in flames, according to police.
The woman escaped the burning tent and put out the fire with help from someone staying in a neighboring camp. She then realized that she had suffered significant burn injuries and went to the hospital, police said.
She suffered second-degree and third-degree burns on 20% of her body and was later taken to the burn unit at UC Davis Medical Center in Sacramento because of the severity of her injuries, according to police. The woman was treated and has since been released from the hospital.
The Police Department and the El Dorado County Fire Protection District launched a joint investigation. Police said investigators later identified Vargas as a person-of-interest after following up on several leads.
On Monday, Placerville police officers found Vargas and took him into custody without incident. Investigators questioned Vargas at the Police Department.
“Vargas confessed to being responsible for starting the fire by pouring a flammable liquid on the tent and igniting it,” police said in the news release.
Officers ushered Vargas to a police vehicle to be taken to the jail. Police said Vargas was waiting to be seated in the vehicle when he ran from it through the Police Department’s back parking lot toward a closed gate. After a short chase, the officers apprehended Vargas, took him back to the vehicle and sat him in the backseat.
Investigators asked anyone with information about this arson case to call Detective Aaron Pratt at 530-642-5210.
