A 42-year-old man was arrested on Sunday morning (25), after being caught setting fire to a wooded area in the city of Batatais, close to the border with Franca, in the interior of São Paulo.
The Military Police (PM) team arrested the suspect in the Central Park neighborhood, after receiving a complaint from residents who observed his actions.
According to the São Paulo Public Security Secretariat (SSP-SP), when military agents arrived at the scene, the fire had already begun to spread.
The department states that the man tried to flee, but was captured. At the time of his arrest, the suspect explained to the police that he was part of a gang and even recorded a video in which he celebrated setting fire to the area.
The man, who has previous convictions for robbery, theft, homicide and drug possession, was taken to the Franca Police Station, where he was charged with causing a fire. The police team seized a bottle of gasoline and a lighter from him.
Case repeats itself
On the morning of this Saturday (24), a 76-year-old man was also arrested after setting fire to a wooded area in Jardim Maracanã, in São José do Rio Preto (SP).
The Military Police were called and the case was registered at the city’s Sectional Police Station.
In another incident, in the southern part of the city, the police team had access to images showing a motorcyclist setting fire to a wooded area, which was investigated by agents to identify the perpetrator and take the necessary measures.
Criminal action in the fires
After large-scale fires hit several points in the state of São Paulo throughout this Thursday (22) and Friday (23), the state governor Tarcísio de Freitas (Republicans) stated that there was criminal action in the fires in the interior of São Paulo.
In a press conference this Sunday (25), Tarcísio mentioned the arrests above.
The state government declared a state of emergency in 45 cities in SP, valid for 180 days, in a publication in the state’s Official Gazette on the morning of this Sunday (24).
São Paulo Civil Defense also reports that 46 municipalities are on maximum alert, with 21 facing active fire outbreaks.
Since the fires began, the São Paulo government has set up a crisis cabinet with Civil Defense, which continues to work to monitor and contain the fire.
This Sunday (25), the state administration, through the Secretariat of Agriculture and Supply, launched a package of actions for rural producers affected by the fires.
This content was originally published in Suspects are arrested after setting fire to wooded areas in the interior of SP on the CNN Brasil website.
Source: CNN Brasil
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