Man arrested in connection to sM courtroom fire

Suspect allegedly broke into Santa Maria Court Complex, started fire that caused almost $750,000 in damage

By NEIL HARTSTEIN NEWS-PRESS STAFF WRITER

Santa Maria police arrested a Nipomo man for allegedly breaking into the Santa Maria Court Complex, forcing his way into a courtroom and starting a fire which set off water sprinklers, causing close to $750,000 damage to furniture, wall paneling, carpeting and court files, officials said.

“The courtroom will be offline for about a year,” Court Executive Officer Darrel Parker told the News-Press on Monday.

All the carpet, non-fixed furniture and cabinetry have to be removed, including wood paneling on the walls and public seating in the audience. The water damage also went underneath the judge’s bench.

He said they were waiting for storage units to be brought on site Monday afternoon to receive everything that was damaged.

“The extent of damage is more than we originally knew,” he said. The original estimate was $500,000, but it could cost another $200,000 worth of work to restore damaged court records.

“Files in the basement were compromised,” he said.

“They’re wet but there’s no mold on them yet. A preservation company is coming in to freeze dry the documents and make digital images of them before they deteriorate. It’s happening now. The crew is coming in today.”

“We’re probably at three quarters of a million dollars,” he said.

The water abatement/ restoration company was on site Monday to continue the clean-up process, Mr. Parker said, adding that the court’s maintenance guy has already fixed the damaged courtroom doors.

“They have to dry everything out, and figure out how much more they have to demolish before they can restore it,” he said. “It’s going to be a long process, and I’m sure there will be some hiccups along the way.”

Because of a judicial vacancy, and arrest warrants at multiple locations in Los Angeles County and Ventura County, she said.

A firearm was recovered in the course of executing the search and arrest warrants, but it is not known at this time if the gun was used in the commission of the crime. Police described Mr. Gutierrez as an innocent bystander who was in Santa Barbara with his wife walking on Stearns Wharf “when he was struck and killed by one of the rounds fired during an altercation between two groups of individuals at the base of the wharf.

“One group involved in the altercation has been identified as local Santa

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