Man Convicted For 5 Counts Of Arson, Including In East County

SAN DIEGO COUNTY, CA – A Poway man who set a series of roadside fires in Valley Center and Lakeside in 2014 and 2015 was convicted today of five counts of arson.

Jonathan Benjamin Cohen, 45, faces more than 11 years in prison when he is sentenced Sept. 30.
Evidence produced during his two-week trial placed Cohen in the vicinity of eight small fires along Lake Wohlford Road in Valley Center and Wildcat Canyon Road in Lakeside.

Deputy District Attorney Andy Aguilar told jurors that Cohen would set fires on the way home from a losing day at Barona Resort & Casino in Lakeside and Valley View Casino & Hotel in Valley Center.

A jail inmate testified that Cohen told him he hated the casinos and wanted to burn them to the ground.
Surveillance cameras captured cars registered to Cohen on semi-rural roads within minutes of each fire, according to evidence presented at trial.

Most of the fires were not large and were put out by citizens or firefighters.

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