Accused Arsonist Leads Cops On Chase Thru RWC, Blames Zombies

SAN MATEO COUNTY, CA — A woman accused of setting two fires in Half Moon Bay within one week is now behind bars on charges of arson— and apparently has some bizarre reasons for sparking the blazes, including zombies and cults, authorities say.

On Tuesday, she pleaded not guilty to arson charges. Sheriff's officials on Wednesday released the booking photo of Monica Louise Berlin, who is accused of causing approximately $20,000 in damages in the recent fires.

Berlin was found and ultimately arrested on Friday after police pegged her as the suspect in the case. However, it wasn't until after a brief police pursuit throughout part of the Peninsula that she was taken into custody, according to San Mateo County Sheriff's Det. Rosemerry Blankswade.

It all started back on June 26 when the first fire was reported on the southwest corner of Highway 1 at Seymour Avenue in Half Moon Bay, according to Blankswade.

"Arriving units from the Coastside FireProtection District and the San Mateo Co. Sheriff’s Office found a large number of harvested hay bales on fire," the detective said. "The bales were located in a field across the street from a grove of eucalyptus trees and nearby adjacent homes."

Berlin photographed the fire, and apparently told firefighters responding to the blaze that it had something to do with the "zombie apocalypse," according to prosecutors.

Approximately 900 bales were destroyed in the blaze, valued at $10,800, she said.

Then, on July 3, another fire was reported in the same area. A total of 765 hay bales burned, which were worth about $9,180, Blankswade said.

The following day, prosecutors say Berlin told her neighbor she had set that fire to prevent a cult from committing a massacre.

"Based on the investigation conducted by investigators from Cal-Fire, both incidents were determined to be deliberately set and arson," she said. "Thanks to the quick response of fire personnel, there were no injuries nor damage to any structures during either fire."

"The threat however, due to the weather conditions, time of night and proximity to homes was a serious concern to public safety," she added.

Blankswade said that witnesses and evidence led authorities to identify Berlin, 39, as the suspect in the case, but they didn't find her until Friday. At around 6:50 p.m. that night, a sherif's deputy spotted her in a grey 2004 Volvo station wagon driving south on Skyline Boulevard and tried to pull her over.

"Berlin failed to stop and proceeded south onto Canada Road and eventually onto southbound Interstate 280," according to Blankswade.

The CHP soon joined in the chase, which went through Redwood City and into Atherton. Berlin eventually "yielded to the CHP officers" in the 300 block of Fletcher Drive, near Alameda de las Pulgas, according to Blankswade.

Berlin was booked into the San Mateo County jail on suspicion of arson and outstanding arrest warrants from San Francisco for unrelated charges.

She is currently represented by San Mateo County's Private Defender Program, but a staffer for the program said no attorney had been assigned to her case as of Wednesday morning. She's currently being held on $100,000 bail and is scheduled to return to court on July 19 for a preliminary hearing.

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— Image via San Mateo County Sheriff's Office / Bay City News Service contributed to this report