Arrest made in series of Santa Clara County arson fires

SANTA CLARA COUNTY – A 32-year-old man has been arrested in connection with more than a dozen arson fires during the past week in Morgan Hill and Gilroy, police said.

The bout of blazes began on July 3 in Morgan Hill and continued through Monday night, the Morgan Hill and Gilroy police departments said in separate news releases. During that period, 10 fires were reported in Morgan Hill and eight in Gilroy.

Morgan Hill police said the spree was preceded by 10 other suspicious fires along the Monterey Highway corridor – from West Edmundson-Tennant Avenue to Main Avenue – between May and June. The most significant of those blazes occurred at the Depot-Latala mixed-use project on Depot Street. The others involved vegetation, construction sites, Dumpsters and a Morgan Hill water pump shed.

The search for the suspect intensified Monday, when a fire was reported around 8:15 a.m. at the ampm convenience store at 18605 Monterey Highway. Three and a half hours later, an employee at the Anritsu Company called authorities to report that someone had been trying to get into their building and resembled a person of interest Gilroy police were seeking in connection with the series of fires in their city.

When confronted by an employee, the suspect ran into a parking lot and started breaking into vehicles, police said. He reportedly stole items including a pair of AirPods.

Officers searched the area but did not find anyone matching the description of the person provided by the employee. But around 1:05 p.m., the owner of the AirPods tracked her headphones to the Walmart parking lot at 170 Cochrane Plaza and saw the suspect wearing her sunglasses. The auto-burglary victims then followed the suspect and relayed his location to officers, who tried to detain him near Britton Middle School.

Police said the suspect evaded officers by running through the backyards of homes on Lindo Lane.

Shortly before 8 p.m., a suspicious person was spotted running from the scene of a vegetation fire at Hale Avenue and Llagas Road, police said. Offices chased after the suspect, who reportedly entered a home on Peebles Avenue and fought with the occupants before fleeing.

Morgan Hill police searched the rural area with the aid of the San Jose Police Department’s helicopter, a pair of Santa Clara County Sheriff’s Office K9 units and Campbell Police Department drone operators. The suspect, however, managed to escape again.

The suspect’s luck finally ran out Tuesday morning. That’s when an off-duty Piedmont Police Department captain on his way to work received a call from a community member who was able to guide him to the suspect’s location. The captain detained the suspect until sheriff’s deputies and officers arrived at the scene.

The suspect, identified as Daniel Catano, is expected to be charged with 14 counts of arson (eight in Gilroy and six in Morgan Hill), two counts of burglary, two counts of resisting arrest, and one count each of auto burglary, theft and possession of stolen property.

In a joint interview with Morgan Hill and Gilroy police detectives, the suspect confessed to setting as many as 15 fires in southern Santa Clara County, police said.