On March 29, 2020, Sheriff’s Deputies from the Vista Patrol Station responded to the 200 block of E. Broadway in Vista for a report of an arson. The incident occurred behind a restaurant. Detectives from the San Diego Sheriff’s Department Bomb Arson Unit were investigating the incident. On May 17, 2020, two separate arsons, one a vegetation fire and the other being a dumpster fire, occurred in an alley behind businesses located at the 800 block of Civic Center Drive. Sheriff’s Deputies and the Vista Fire Department responded to the scene. On May 18, 2020 at about 3:45 PM, Sheriff’s Deputies contacted 32-year-old Mark Davidson at the 700 block of E. Vista Way in Vista.
Davidson fit the description of the arsonist who set the three fires. Davidson was arrested and booked into Vista Jail for three separate arson charges and one charge of attempted arson.
