Indian-American resident of California booked for allegedly setting fire to garage doors

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Fremont Police on Dec. 8 arrested 44 year-old Roshan Patel of Fremont, CA on arson charges and booked him at the Fremont City Jail. Police say Patel was a  suspect in at least four residential garage door fires, and that he knew at least one of the residents that he had targeted.

According to a press release from the Fremont Police Department, early morning on Dec. 8 undercover detectives were conducting surveillance for the serial arson suspect. Patel was allegedly involved in garage door fires in the areas- Castro Ln on Dec. 1, Cougar Ci on Dec. 4, and Hoyt St and Cougar Ci (same residence targeted as Dec. 4) on Dec. 6 in Fremont.

Police said officers were able to locate private residential camera footage that provided a general description of the suspect’s vehicle. Detectives matched the private camera footage to the Community Camera network, which then provided a license plate for the suspect vehicle.

Detectives began surveiling Patel and followed him to Hoyt St. at approximately 2.45 am on Dec. 8 morning to the same address that he targeted on Dec. 6.

Patel was arrested when he was running back to his vehicle after igniting a parked vehicle at the residence. Detectives used a nearby garden hose to extinguish the car fire, the Fremont Police Department said.

“Detectives arrested 44 yr old Roshan Patel after a series of 4 garage door fires over the past week. Detectives conducted surveillance on Patel and observed him set a vehicle on fire early this morning. He was arrested as he ran back to his vehicle,” tweeted Fremont PD on Dec. 8.