Yet another Arroyo Grande man convicted of arson

October 29, 2018

One day after a jury convicted an Arroyo Grande man of arson, another Arroyo Grande man pleaded no contest in a separate arson case last week. Both of the intentionally set fires occurred in the South County city. [Cal Coast Times]

At about 7:20 a.m. on Aug. 22, Arroyo Grande police officers noticed a plume of black smoke coming from the 1400 block of West Branch Street. The officers arrived at the scene and found a large fire near the dumpsters behind R & R Furniture, according to the Arroyo Grande Police Department.

The blaze was burning a hillside, pine trees, oak trees and dry brush. The fire was traveling up the hillside and toward hotels.

Shortly later, officers located David Michael Bokar, 51, sitting to the west of the blaze on West Branch Street. Officers interviewed Bokar, reviewed surveillance footage and then arrested the Arroyo Grande man for arson.

On Wednesday, Bokar pleaded no contest to felony arson of a structure. He received a sentence of 180 days in jail and three years of formal probation.

Bokar is not currently in San Luis Obispo County Jail, according to the sheriff’s office website.

A day before Bokar pleaded no contest to arson, a San Luis Obispo County jury convicted Jesse Lee Hubble, 33, of Arroyo Grande for setting fire to an occupied home in 2017. Hubble has yet to be sentenced.