A GPS tracker placed a California arson suspect's vehicle at the scene of a destructive wildfire north of San Francisco last month about a minute before it started, according to an investigation of the suspect in the blaze that destroyed 189 homes.
Investigators first placed a tracker on Damin Pashilk's vehicle in August 2015 after a series of small arson fires over the previous weeks that Pashilk is also accused of starting. Videotaped surveillance had placed a car Pashilk drove near at least some of those fires, according to a summary of the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection's investigation of Pashilk that was obtained by The Associated Press.
Pashilk pleaded not guilty in a Lake County courtroom on Wednesday to 18 counts of arson related to 16 fires, including the August 13 blaze that damaged the town of Lower Lake. His attorney, J. David Markham, declined to comment, saying he wanted to first finish reviewing hundreds of pages of documents that had been turned over to him by authorities.