San Diego
A 22-year-old San Diego video store owner was arrested Thursday on suspicion of hiring two men to set fire to his business, a Fire Department spokesman said.
Hong Phuc Van was the third man to be arrested in connection with the Nov. 8 blaze at VP Video on Mesa College Drive. When Van went to the Metro Arson Strike Team’s downtown headquarters to get a copy of the fire report at 5:40 p.m., he was taken into custody, a fire official said.
“We felt he was responsible for hiring two people to burn his business,” said John Buono, a team investigator. Van was taken to County Jail, where bail was set at $50,000, Buono said.
The other two men in custody are from Orange County. They were arrested Tuesday and were treated for burns suffered when the blaze started. They are at the UC San Diego burn unit under police protection, Buono said.
Insurance fraud is the suspected motive for the fire that caused $135,000 damage, Buono said.
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