SAN CLEMENTE : D.A. Weighs Charges Against Marine in Fire

The Orange County district attorney’s office is expected to decide whether to file arson charges against a Camp Pendleton Marine who was arrested after a car similar to his was spotted leaving the scene of a brush fire, fire investigators said Tuesday.

The case against Pfc. Jose Antonio Sanchez, an infantryman at Camp Pendleton, is being turned over to prosecutors for review, said Dan Runnestrand, chief arson investigator for the Orange County Fire Department.

Sanchez was booked at Orange County Jail on weapons charges but has not been charged with arson, Runnestrand said. Bail was set Tuesday at $10,000.

Sanchez is not a suspect in any other fires, including the Laguna Beach fire last year, Runnestrand said.

Sanchez, who has been stationed at Camp Pendleton since March, was arrested Sunday on suspicion of possessing a loaded rifle and brass knuckles after witnesses spotted a car similar to his leaving the scene of the fire. The rifle was loaded with tracer bullets, sheriff’s deputies said.

Fire investigators said they believe a tracer round fired by the rifle may have sparked the fire that burned about 140 acres of brush Sunday afternoon.

Marine Lt. David Steele, a Camp Pendleton spokesman, said base officials do not believe the rifle seized from Sanchez’s car was issued by the Marines.

Steele said that an investigation into whether Sanchez has violated military regulations is underway.