Sonora, CA…From the Sonora Police Dept…”Early this morning, 39-year-old Tyler B. Schuster was arrested for committing arson during the State of Emergency. At around 2:30 a.m. on the morning of Saturday, April 25th, while patrolling the City, one of our officers noticed flame coming from the fencing on the south side of Wrights Tire. The officer was able to extinguish the small fire, which was determined to be a burning “No Trespassing” sign affixed to the fence.

Officers searched the area and later contacted Schuster walking on South Washington Street from behind another business. Schuster denied involvement in setting the fire, and although the officer described him as acting suspiciously, there was nothing to connect him to the arson at that point.

On Thursday, April 30th, the officer obtained surveillance footage from a nearby business and was able to identify Schuster as the Arson suspect. The video confirms Schuster lighting an object on fire and carrying it to the fencing at the tire business.

Schuester came to the Police Department early this morning for an unrelated matter and was ultimately arrested for the arson. Fortunately, the incident was caught in time and there was no significant damage to the fence or the connecting business. Schuester was booked at the Tuolumne County Jail for felony arson, which does not qualify him for California’s COVID-19 Zero-Bail process.”