Grizzly Peak Fire: Prison Sentence For Man Who Started Blaze

OAKLAND, CA — A Concord man was sentenced today to four years in state prison for a road rage incident and starting a 20-acre vegetation fire in the East Bay hills last summer.

Alfredo Bautista, 25, pleaded no contest on June 11 to arson of forest land and assault with force likely to produce great bodily injury in connection with the two incidents in the same general area along Grizzly Peak Road in Oakland and Berkeley last Aug. 2.

In exchange for Bautista's pleas, the Alameda County District Attorney's Office dismissed two other felony charges that he faced: attempted second-degree robbery and unlawfully driving or taking a vehicle.

Bautista's plea agreement also calls for him to pay $126,800 in restitution to Cal Fire for its costs in fighting the blaze, which was reported at about 1:05 p.m. on Aug. 2 and wasn't fully contained until five days later.

Bautista, who was dressed in a yellow jail uniform and required the services of a Spanish translator, didn't speak at a brief hearing today at which he was formally sentenced by Alameda County Superior Court Judge James Cramer.

Bautista's lawyer Alphonso Mance declined to comment on the case.

University of California at Berkeley police Officer Ryan Miyamoto wrote in a probable cause statement after the fire that he found a cigarette lighter in Bautista's pocket when he detained him near two Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory buildings at about 2 p.m. on Aug. 2.

Miyamoto wrote that Bautista "later made a voluntary admission that he was the person who started the fire on Grizzly Peak near sign post 14."

Bautista also "admitted to starting eight fires in the area using the cigarette lighter he had in his possession," Miyamoto wrote.

Miyamoto noted that a firefighter was injured while battling the blaze and had to be treated for his injuries at a hospital.

Oakland police Officer Matthew Jung wrote in a separate but related probable cause statement that Bautista allegedly brandished a rifle at motorists during the road rage incident, which occurred after he was involved in a collision near Grizzly Peak Boulevard and Fish Ranch Road at about 8 a.m. that day.

Jung wrote that the victims later told police that a suspect, eventually identified as Bautista, approached their vehicle armed with a rifle so they fled in their car out of fear for their safety.

Jung said Bautista followed the victims in his car and began ramming his car into their car multiple times until the victims' car struck a parked vehicle.

Jung said the victims told police that Bautista continued to point his firearm at them before fleeing the scene.

Officers later conducted a field lineup in which the victims identified Bautista as the suspect who had pointed his firearm at them and purposely rammed his car into theirs multiple times.

— Bay City News; Image via Shutterstock