As California's wildfires rage, the police have arrested an arson suspect. I've stumbled across an obscure web page from 2004 which may connect the same man to the 2003 conflagration.
The suspect is identified as John Rund of Hesperia, California. (Hesperia is a desert town not far from the San Bernardino National Forest.) The most complete account of the arrest is here. This 1Up page apparently belonged to Rund; it has no information beyond the interesting fact that he called himself "JohnnyVideo."
I suspect the man in police custody is the same John Rund mentioned twice on this page, the online journal of hikers John and Pat Dickinson.
If I understand the text correctly, Rund had helped guide these two hearty explorers as they hiked through an area burned in the great 2003 conflagration. The text mentions Lake Silverwood, not far from Hesperia, and refers to a place called "Jenny's Country Store," which is in Hesperia.
At the risk of being charged with sensationalism, I must ask the question which has, no doubt, already occurred to many of you: What if the same individual had a hand in both blazes?
At any rate, arson does seem likely. Cops shot and killed another arson suspect who rammed into a squad car while trying to get away. At this writing, the suspect is identified only as a 27 year old man from Arizona.
FOX News has suggested an Al Qaeda connection, but neither Rund nor the Arizona fellow strike me as likely followers of Osama Bin Laden. I should also remind readers that it is still quite possible that Rund is innocent.
UPDATE: The cops still have not identified the Arizona man who was shot. A spokesperson for the sheriff's office holding John Rund says that he is not "worthy" of the attention he has received. I've tried to contact the Dickinsons to see what they recall of Rund, but there has been no response so far. Of course, they do a lot of hiking.
This story speaks of a third arson suspect in custody: Anthony Joseph Riperti, spotted trying to set grass on fire at a park in Rancho Cucamonga.
So far, none of these three men have been linked to the larger fires. Yet authorities do seem persuaded that fires in Orange County and Riverside were the result of arson.
4 comments:
Well here's what I want to know about. Posted this before but never see the news cover this angle of it...
The really big So-Cal fires all seem to occur in an odd year and in October before an election year. Didn't notice any other big socal fires occuring in even years recently:
October 20th 1991 - Oakland *** October 27th 1993 - Laguna Beach *** October 25th, 2003 - Cedar Fire *** October 20th 2007 - San Diego, Malibu
Hey Joe ... just to let you know, Cal State San Bernadino, where the Arizona guy was shot, says that he really isn't an arson suspect ... campus cops found him on a part of the campus where he shouldn't have been (the campus was closed) and he sped off when they approached to tell him to leave. They pursued, and the rest is history.
in case this helps...
=========
Associate Professor Emeritus of Chemistry
John V. Rund
rund@u.arizona.edu
Office: Carl S. Marvel Laboratories 312
Phone: (520) 621-6331
Fax: (520) 621-8407
http://www.chem.arizona.edu/faculty/profile/profile.php?fid_call=rund
=============
Feeding Democratic nervousness is a dramatic reconfiguration of public concerns in the Golden State. "Crime and social issues - led by immigration - are the dominant issues going into the fall election," says John Rund, president of the Charlton Research Company in San Francisco, "although the economy continues to be a major concern. Environmental problems have completely dropped from voters' list of top concerns." Crime and immigration aren't issues that make people search out female Democrats to lead them, which explains not just Dianne Feinstein's woes but also Kathleen Brown's troubled gubernatorial campaign.
In the Inland Empire, in the Central Valley, and in rural regions north of San Francisco, male voters are giving Pete Wilson and Michael Huffington lopsided majorities, according to GOP pollster Wayne Johnson. The gender gap is propelled by moderate and conservative Democrats' gagging on Bill Clinton. "The Democratic males have finally figured out they've been abandoned and are crossing over in Reaganera-like numbers," says Johnson. "This could be a huge Republican year if the party doesn't somehow shoot itself in the foot."
findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1282/is_n19_v46/ai_16294498/pg_2
Hey Batcave, just to let YOU know, that's not the same John Rund.
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