People v. Hernandez CA4/2

BACKGROUND

On the morning of August 1, 2019, law enforcement officers participating in a

multi-agency task force were travelling on Interstate 10 in Palm Desert when they spotted

smoke rising from a row of tamarisk trees lining railroad tracks south of the freeway.

The officers stopped to investigate and saw four trees, approximately 20 yards apart,

burning. The four fires appeared to have started recently and were successively smaller as

they ran from east to west, giving the appearance that the furthest west tree had ignited

most recently. As they assessed the situation, two of the officers saw a man, later

identified as Hernandez, emerge from the trees west of the fires, stop, look around, make

eye contact with the officers, and then run back into the tree line south of the tracks. The

two officers pursued but lost sight of the suspect within a few minutes. The officers

2 called for assistance from Riverside County Sheriff’s deputies, providing a description of

the suspect. Approximately 40 minutes later, Hernandez was detained nearby. He was

carrying a backpack that contained, among other things, a partially full box of fireplace

matches eight to 10 inches long…