Teen arrested in park arson case
17-year-old captured last week in cop-shooting incident is lone suspect in 2014 fire
A 17-year-old youth is in custody in connection with the arson fire that destroyed the Yuma playground affectionately known as “Castle Park” in 2014.
Police arrested Kane Javier Perez in connection with the Dec. 28, 2014, fire that engulfed the Stewart Vincent Wolfe Creative Playground in the West Wetlands Park. Police, fire and city officials held a press conference Thursday morning at City Hall to announce the arrest.
Perez, who was 13 when he allegedly set the fire, is currently being held in the Yuma County Adult Detention Facility. Police have forwarded a long-form complaint, which is a written statement of the facts in an alleged offense in which police seek felony charges, to the Yuma County Attorney’s Office for review.
Fire and police responded to a report of a fire at the playground at 10:50 p.m. on Sunday, Dec. 28, 2014. “The following morning confirmed the fear that the community-built playground was a total loss,” Police Chief John Lekan said, adding that it marked the beginning of an extensive investigation by Yuma police and fire departments.
Investigators immediately believed that the fire was “most likely intentionally started,” Lekan noted. For the next 3½ years, police and fire investigators led by Detective Eric Fell spent “countless staff hours and resources in an effort to determine the identity of the person or persons responsible for starting the fire.”
Fell said that investigators immediately talked to witnesses and reviewed security video, which showed a “younger-looking male” on a bicycle with a backpack going into the park at 9:25 p.m. and leaving at 10:42 p.m. At 10:49 p.m., police re-
ceived the first 911 call. At 10:50, the motion camera reactivated after picking up the fire.
A “huge number of tips” came in from the community, Fell said. Investigators looked into each one and every potential lead had to be either confirmed or ruled out.
“And it wasn’t until midway through 2017 that there was finally a suspect that was unable to be ruled out at that point, and that was when the investigation focused on Kane Perez. And eventually we spoke to him once. He didn’t limit himself, he actually made himself more of a suspect,” Fell said.
Investigators spoke to Perez again on Aug. 6 when he reportedly confessed to starting the fire. Perez is the only suspect in the arson case and he is not a suspect in other fires around the city, officials said. However, the teenager is also facing three counts of attempted first-degree murder after allegedly shooting at three police officers who were documenting graffiti on a wall the night of Aug. 1. Police believe Perez has gang affiliations and seems to have shouted a gang slogan before allegedly opening fire on the officers during the shooting in the area of 22nd Street and Madison Avenue.
“The graffiti is gang-related,” Sgt. Lori Franklin, a spokesperson for YPD, said at the time.
In that case, Perez is being tried as an adult and also facing three counts of misconduct with weapons, one count each of aggravated assault and assisting a criminal street gang.
Perez reportedly received a single, non-life-threatening wound after officers returned fire. Police identified a second suspect in the shooting as 22-year-old Luis German Juarez.
At Thursday’s press conference, officials thanked the community for its cooperation and patience during the investigation and police and fire investigators for their work in solving the case.
“In this case, due to the magnitude of the loss and unusual circumstances — late night, isolated area, etc. — both departments began to work together and assist each other almost immediately,” Assistant Fire Chief Dusty Fields said, expressing appreciation for the police department’s “determination and persis- tence” in this investigation.
“As many of our citizens, many fire and police staff helped build the original park,” Fields added. “Our children and grandchildren played there, and the loss was close and personal.”
Mayor Doug Nicholls noted that the community felt “devastated” with losing the park. “We assumed early on that it would be easy to figure out who and where, when and why,” he said, but noted that investigators want to be very “thorough” and “sure” when they “point the finger and arrest somebody.”
However, Nicholls added, the community resolved to rebuild the playground. “We did, and we even expanded it, which just helped us as a community get beyond the event, although I don’t know anyone who has forgotten … The people that didn’t forget about it (were) Detective Fell and the people he worked with at the police station. Every day it sat on his desk and so it was constantly in front of (his) mind ...
“So on behalf of every child of Yuma, of all the parents and the grandparents, people who grew up on that originally build, the people who built the original park, I’d like to thank Detective Fell and the Yuma Police Department for all the hard work,” Nicholls said. “Since this is just an arrest and not a conviction yet, we will be watching this as it moves forward in the court system, but I’m confident our men and women in uniform have this squared away.”
City Administrator Greg Wilkinson also praised the police department and detectives for bringing closure to the community. “We’ve seen some of these cases that are really difficult with very little evidence or not a lot of evidence. It took a while to solve the La Mesa case and it took a while to solve this, but in my mind, although it was a heinous event and it affected the community, this brings closure that we put the person responsible at least up for trial and hopefully behind bars.”
The Castle Park opened in February 2007 on more than three acres at the West Wetlands Park, 308 N. 12th Ave., just off 1st Street. The community effort involved Yuma residents and visitors of all ages, aided by contractors and other professionals, who put in some 9,600 man-hours per day over 12 days to build it. The playground was rebuilt and reopened in December 2015, prior to the one-year anniversary of the fire.