Concord police arrested a homeless man suspected of intentionally setting fire to a church early Monday morning.
Officers arrested 47-year-old Jesse Marron sometime around 4 a.m. or 5 a.m. on suspicion of arson after a fire was reported a little after midnight at Christ Community Church of the Nazarene, 1650 Ashbury Drive, according to Concord police Lt. Sean Donnelly.
This was the second time in five days that fire broke out in the church complex and investigators with the Contra Costa County Fire Protection District, Concord police and the U.S. Department of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms are looking into the possibility that the fires are connected.
“We do know that there were multiple places where fire was set this morning. We do know that this second fire was arson,” said ConFire spokesman Steve Hill.
“It would be reasonable to expect that our investigators will see if they can connect the dots for the two fires,” Hill said.
The first fire, which totally gutted one of four buildings in the complex, was reported early on the morning of May 13 and investigators quickly determined it had started in a crawl space under the church where it appeared someone had been living, Hill said.
The first fire has not been labeled an arson but fire officials said it was caused by human activity.
“We could not determine if that fire was intentionally set or if it was an accident,” Hill said.
The second fire extensively burned a building that housed a chapel and some offices.
No one was injured in either blaze.
Marron is being held at the Contra Costa County Jail in Martinez.
RELATED STORY: Concord Man (Jesse Marron) Arrested For Burglary, Possession Of Stolen Property After Break-In At City Hall (PHOTO)
The only question left is: Did Newsom let him out early?
Jesse Moron
I expect no charges to be filed and his acts to be considered a consequence of his suppression by the religious right. Or will it be an indictment on income inequality in California. Or are we ready to roll over on the police for not acting aggressively enough to prevent the second fire. Or are we going to see this as a logical outcome that unfortunately happens rarely when we rightly choose to allow people with active psychosis the autonomy and liberty to not take medication if they don’t want. Even if floridly psychotic, so long as they don’t create harm.
Jesse Marron — how sad. All his work trying to help others, and now this.
@ Kentucky Derby~
Yes it’s Sad,…and how much things have changed for him.
I uses to visit his Thrift Shop once a week, hunting for items.
He knew what was interesting to me, and would point out the new stuff that came in, for me to check out.
He lost everything, and started using again,…just don’t know what.
Bought him meals once in a while, after he became homeless, but I haven’t seen him for 3 weeks.
This is why I know that drug use is not a victimless crime! We’ve legalized marijuana and now they’re pushing the legalize every other drug, supposedly so they could control it and tax it. Still doesn’t change it’s going to ruin lives and crime will result as people hooked on the drugs have to steal and burglarize, and rob.
Badge1104 — I totally agree. He worked at Delancey Street too, so maybe he had an addiction problem going way back. I guess that’s why they refer to addicts as recovering addicts. The addiction will always be there.
Roz — He did lose it all. It could happen to any of us, even without addiction being part of the equation. No guarantees in life — taxes and death.
@Badge to throw cannabis under the bus is idiotic. Do you know how many Americans died from cannabis poisoning last year? Zero. The year before that? Zero. The century before that? Zero. Meanwhile:
“An estimated 95,000 people (approximately 68,000 men and 27,000 women) die from alcohol-related causes annually,15 making alcohol the third-leading preventable cause of death in the United States. The first is tobacco, and the second is poor diet and physical inactivity.16”
https://www.niaaa.nih.gov/publications/brochures-and-fact-sheets/alcohol-facts-and-statistics
“California has by far the most driving fatalities each year, according to the NHTSA, with 1,120 total deaths in 2017 attributed to alcohol-impaired driving.”
https://www.bankrate.com/insurance/car/drunk-driving/
@ anon that’s fine but then we need to go all in and regulate it the same as alcohol- 21yo and over, no medical, no use while driving or to an extent it could influence driving, limited commercial marketing, possession under 21yo illegal.
This guy stays getting arrested I believe the last time was for breaking into City hall and stealing a suit 😂, obviously a threat to the community, keep him locked up this time
@KingOfC~ Yes,…he did.
Best to keep him off the streets for now, so he does not harm someone.
.
Homelessness is not a crime.
.
But trespassing and reckless behavior is a crime.
.
Please prosecute to the full extent of the law and show no mercy.
Won’t happen with Becton in office….
Homeless parasites continue to infest our neighborhoods. They bring crime, drugs, trash and degradation of property values. Drive them away from our communities.
woah wait
so a bunch of people can attack and fire bomb a federal building
and its protest
but this equity driven soul is cast to the depths
well dems run blue with hypocrisy
so sorry dude your the exception
and now the liberal shirts with brown armbands will take you away as the people cheer and heil
for a hypocritic policy to allow violence and fire when it suits the left
So, this Marron fellow tried to burn it down twice? Does he have a history with people who work there or perhaps with the man upstairs?
Clearly lacking a Soul. When a house of worship looks after the less fortunate and then they show their gratitude by burning it down, make me question why we waste resources on trying to rehabilitate those who could care less about themselves or others.. Blame it on addiction, but life is about choices and when one uses excuses for poor behavior expect more of the same.
Concord was a wonderful city growing up. Now the Mayor and city council along with the Country are blind to the blite of tent city’s . The tunnel by the Clayton Station Safeway has had drug addicted homeless people in it for years now. I am seeing young children down in that tunnel.Now theses people are burning church’s that feed them.Time to out Newsome
Can anyone give us this guy’s story?
@ Anon~
This is all I know about Jesse, but someone else might chime in.
Met him & his wife, Willow, when he/they opened the Thrift Shop.
This shop was to provide income, to help soon to be foster kids in this area, turning 18 yrs. old, a place to stay, and keep them off the streets and turning to drugs. Also to help them get a job/schooling (college). They didn’t want kids to go through what they did. Jesse was drug free for 14 yrs. and Willow for 12 yrs. when I met them. They also, with the help of a church on Saturdays, had a truck outside their shop, provided bags of free food for anyone who needed. I do not know the turn of events that changed things, and why Jesse & Willow spilt. Willow did take on a job at a high end restaurant in S.F. before the shop closed.
Accidently on purpose? So if I ‘accidently’ shoot or stab someone it isn’t a crime? I think that lighting fires under buildings constitutes grounds for charging him with arson, however, Becton von Soros may have other ideas.
Gosh. I wonder if I will be given this many chances if I have to protect myself from home invaders.
Absolutely Not!
First of all, because you are a law-abiding citizen, you need to face extra punishment because you are a slacker. You need to meet or exceed your quota of crimes.
Second, remember that “All animals are equal, but some are more equal than others.” And guess which one you are?
This guy is a menace. Burglarizing City Hall, vandalizing property, continual break ins, stealing from his friends. Fighting people, Fighting the cops. It’s only a matter of time before he kills someone or someone kills him.
A 556 round traveling at 1800 feet per second would solve this permanently.
For a standard NATO 5.56 round to be traveling at 1800 fps it would have to have been fired from approximately 300 – 350 yards away.
Why such a long shot?