Man Arrested for Allegedly Starting Small Brush Fire in Palm Springs

PALM SPRINGS (CNS) – A 33-year-old man was behind bars Wednesday on suspicion of starting a small brush fire in Palm Springs earlier this week. Anthony Cordero, a homeless man from Palm Springs, was arrested Monday afternoon on suspicion of arson, according to the Palm Springs Police Department. Police said that officers responded around 5:40 p.m. Monday to the Prescott Preserve, near the 1000 block of South El Cielo Road, to a report of an active fire. "When officers arrived at the scene, they were provided a description of a subject in the area who allegedly may have started the fire," police said in a statement. "The Palm Springs Fire Department responded to the scene, and they were able to extinguish a small, isolated brush fire." Cordero, who matched the description provided by a witness, was subsequently found and arrested in the area, according to police. He was booked into the John J. Benoit Detention Center in Indio, where he remains held on $35,000 bail, according to inmate records. Anyone with information about Monday’s fire was asked to call the police department’s investigations division at 760-323-8121 or Crime Stoppers anonymously at 760-347-7867. Copyright 2023, City News Service, Inc.