The Sun
Sunnyvale's Newspaper

Sunnyvale man arrested in arson-burglaries

Police seize goods from home, say investigation is ongoing

By Justin Berton

Police arrested a Sunnyvale resident Thursday afternoon who they believe is responsible for burglarizing and torching 14 apartments throughout Santa Clara County over the past 11 months.

Patrick Alan Salinas, a 31-year-old unemployed computer technician, was charged with 14 counts of burglary and 12 counts of arson after police seized a stockpile of computer and electronic goods from his mobile-home unit in northeast Sunnyvale.

Despite the arrest, Sunnyvale Fire Marshall Byron Pipkin said the investigation into other possible suspects remains open.

Police arrested Salinas in his car shortly after 2 p.m. as he was leaving the Casa de Amigos mobile-home park on the 1000 block of Tasman Avenue.

Police believe Salinas is responsible for more than $700,000 worth of property damage and has stolen more than $70,000 of property.

Five times in the past 11 months, Sunnyvale residents have been the victims of the midday arson-burglaries.

The elusive burglar-arsonist was known for targeting large apartment complexes during the afternoon hours on weekdays.

Police believe Salinas burglarized the apartments for profit and burned the dwellings to cover up possible evidence.

Pipkin would not specify how much loot was removed from Salinas' mobile home. Salinas shared the unit with his parents, a girlfriend and two sons, a neighbor said.

Patrick Blaylock, who has lived next to the Salinas family for the past four years, said the younger Salinas moved back in with his parents within the past year.

"They are stunned, just devastated," Blaylock said of the family's reaction to the unfolding events. "She's [Salinas' mother] got a bad heart, and a lot of other things going on."

Pipkin said Henry Kwong, a detective with the Milpitas Police Department, turned Salinas' name over to investigators as a potential suspect sometime before July.

Neither Kwong nor Pipkin would say how early in the investigation Salinas became a known suspect. But Pipkin did say a surveillance team that tailed Salinas once before turned up no leads.

After new leads came in from incidents, and a witness' description of a suspect matched Salinas, officers refocused their investigation on the Sunnyvale resident, Pipkin said.

Police would not divulge what past behavior patterns led Kwong to suspect involvement by Salinas.

Police staked out the mobile home Thursday morning and watched as Salinas got into his car and drove onto Tasman Avenue.

Pipkin said investigators removed cameras, computers, VCRs, hand tools and jewelry from Salinas' residence in the Thursday afternoon raid.

[ Back to Contents Page | Sunnyvale Sun Home Page | Archives ]

This article appeared in the Sunnyvale Sun, August 12, 1998.
©1998 Metro Publishing, Inc. All rights reserved.