A 36-year-old man has pleaded not guilty to arson charges, including a hate crime allegation, after he was arrested in connection with two fires that authorities say were set in Yucaipa. One of the fires damaged a church.
Jonathan Nava of Albuquerque, New Mexico, entered his pleas on Monday, April 29, in Superior Court in San Bernardino via closed circuit television from West Valley Detention Center in Rancho Cucamonga. He was charged with two counts of arson of an inhabited structures and one count of arson to terrorize.
Places of worship, courthouses, public libraries and places that provide abortion counseling are among those covered by the terrorism statute in the state Penal Code.
Battalion Chief Alison Hesterly, a spokeswoman for Cal Fire’s San Bernardino Unit, declined to say why the department believes Nava targeted the church, citing the ongoing case.