A 28-year-old Rancho Cucamonga resident who authorities now say set 12 fires in the Ontario Mills mall on Friday was charged this week with 16 felony counts.
Luis Javier Gallegos Jr. is accused of setting the fires in five stores: four at Nordstrom Rack, three at Marshalls, three at True Religion and two at The North Face, according to the San Bernardino County District Attorney’s Office.
He was charged on Tuesday, April 14 with 11 counts of arson of property, two counts of criminal threats and one count each of arson of a structure, resisting arrest and attempting to remove a peace officer’s firearm.
Two employees were victims of threats, said Jacquelyn Rodriguez, a DA’s spokeswoman.
Gallegos is scheduled to enter pleas on Wednesday in Superior Court in Rancho Cucamonga. If Gallegos is convicted, his sentence could be doubled under state law because he has a prior conviction for a serious offense. He was convicted of armed robbery in Los Angeles County in 2017, the complaint says.
Court records do not list an attorney who could speak on Gallegos’ behalf.
The charges come one week after Ontario police say Highland resident Chamel A. Abdulkarim used a lighter to cause more than $500 million in damage by destroying an NIF Industries warehouse in the city containing Kimberly-Clark paper products. Abdulkarim, in an Instagram video attributed to him, said his frustration with his employer’s pay prompted him to set the fires.
There is no connection between Gallegos and Abdulkarim, according to Rodriguez.
“I don’t care what your political party or political persuasion is, all I care about is your conduct and how that conduct compares to the rule of law,” District Attorney Jason Anderson said in a news release Tuesday. “If criminal conduct is how you show concern about the economy, I know a place you can go to get a free bed, free food, free clothes and potentially many friends. The bottom line is, if you play stupid games here in San Bernardino County, you are going to win state prison prizes.”
Police said they received reports Friday around 10:30 a.m. that a man with a lighter and a backpack set fires at the shopping mall. Officers quickly confronted Gallegos, who they say resisted arrest. An officer had to use physical force to take him into custody, a news release said.
Police evacuated the mall. It was closed until 6:30 p.m.
One officer suffered a minor injury and was treated and released from a medical center.