UPDATED: Man Suspected of Starting Small Fire in Palm Springs Charged With Arson

INDIO (CNS) – A 33-year-old homeless man suspected of starting a small brush fire in Palm Springs earlier this week pleaded not guilty Thursday to one felony count of arson to a non-dwelling.

Anthony Cordero, a homeless man residing in Palm Springs, is entered his not guilty plea Thursday afternoon at the Larson Justice Center in Indio.

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, according to the Palm Springs Police Department.

“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 $50,000 bail, according to inmate records.

According to court records, Cordero has one prior felony conviction of burglary from July 2022, for which he was serving two years of formal probation.

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.

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