Arson Suspect Arraigned on 13 Felonies

—By Bay City News Service 

The Santa Clara County District Attorney's Office has filed 13 felony charges against a suspected serial arsonist in connection with recent fires set in San Jose, a court clerk said today.

Patrick William Brennan, 48, of San Jose, is set to be arraigned on the charges this afternoon in Santa Clara County Superior Court.

Prosecutors filed against Brennan six counts of arson on an inhabited structure, three counts of arson of a structure, three counts of attempting to set a fire and one count of arson on a property, according to the court clerk.

San Jose police arrested Brennan at 8:10 p.m. Wednesday for allegedly setting multiple fires near downtown San Jose. 

The fires were set between 2 a.m. and 6 a.m. from Jan. 8 to Jan. 10 in the area between Santa Clara and William streets and between 17th and 33rd streets.

More fires were reported in the area on Sunday morning. 

Police said that on Jan. 8, Brennan started what turned into a massive five-alarm fire at a 125,000-square-foot warehouse that housed several companies at the intersection of North 28th and Julian streets.

Also that day, two elderly people escaped with their lives from a two-alarm suspicious fire at their home at East St. John and 17th streets, according to fire officials.

Police spokeswoman Sgt. Heather Randol said Brennan was previously convicted of arson in a series of 16 deliberately set blazes in Santa Clara County in 1999.

Brennan is also on California's Megan's Law list of sexual offenders because of a previous conviction for sexual battery, according to the state's Department of Justice website.
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