Three men arrested for arson at Independence Day event at Jurupa Valley High School

News headline from the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department:

Three Jurupa Valley men were arrested on Tuesday night after being denied entrance into a fireworks event at Jurupa Valley High School, and then later starting a fire in the school’s parking lot.

At around 7:00 p.m. on July 3rd, three men attempted to smuggle alcohol onto the Jurupa Valley High School campus where the Jurupa Area Recreation and Park District was holding an Independence Day Celebration. They were refused entrance and left on foot.

A few minutes later, witnesses saw the men build a fire in the school’s east parking lot, attempting to set the bushes on fire. The witnesses extinguished the fire and called 911.

The Jurupa Valley Police Department’s Special Enforcement Team responded and apprehended the three men who were identified by witnesses at the scene. They were identified as Joseph Ochoa, 54, Daniel Garza Medina, 19, and Frank Valdez, 26 (pictured below, left to right). All are residents of Jurupa Valley. They were each charged with conspiracy to commit arson and booked into jail at the Robert Presley Detention Center.