Sonora, CA…An alert citizen aided the sheriff’s office in the arrest of an arson suspect from Saturday’s fire behind CDJR in Sonora. On Saturday afternoon, deputies responded to assist firefighters with a reported fire behind CDJR. When deputies arrived on scene, they were made aware of a witness who had seen a man emerge from the area of the fire with, what appeared to be, a propane bottle in his hand. Deputies were provided a description of the man and quickly began searching the area.

A short time later, deputies located 36-year-old Ryan Wallace of Arnold, walking along Sanguinetti Rd. Ryan, matching the description provided by the witness, was contacted. Ryan was initially non-compliant and provided deputies with a false name. Thanks to the help of a Sonora Police Department Officer, Ryan was positively identified and determined to have a misdemeanor warrant.

Ryan was placed in handcuffs and searched. Ryan was in possession of several prescription pills, but the possible propane bottle was not located.

At the end of the investigation, Ryan was arrested for arson, providing false identification to law enforcement and a misdemeanor warrant. It was later determined the pills located in Ryan’s pocket were illegal to possess without a prescription. The additional charge of possessing a controlled substance without a prescription was added.

#alert #fireseason #payingattention #bestcommunity #thankyouspd #teamworkmakesthedreamwork