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Crime & Safety

Federal Investigators File Charges Against Colby Fire Suspects

The U.S. Attorney's Office has agreed to take the case and file charges against the three men accused of igniting the Colby Fire above Glendora, police said Tuesday.

Charges of unlawfully setting timber afire were filed against the trio just before 4 p.m., said Thom Mrozek, public information officer with the U.S. Attorney's Office.

The charges are a felony offense, which carry a possible 5-year prison term, Mrozek said.

Glendora authorities transported the men to Citrus Superior Court, Tuesday morning, and were prepared to file charges against the trio in the event federal or state charges were not filed, said Detective Matt Fenner of Glendora Police.

Suspects must be arraigned within 48 working hours, otherwise they would have had to been let go.

"If they didn't get back to us by about noon, we were just going to file it, because we didn't want to let them go," Fenner said.

The men would have had to be tracked down when charges would eventually be filed.

Around 11 a.m., federal investigators informed everyone of their intentions to file, Fenner said.

An officer with the U.S. Forestry Service arrived to Citrus Superior Court, the trio were released from Glendora Police custody and were rearrested by federal officers, Fenner said.

A fire investigator with the U.S. Forestry Service determined the fire's point of origin was near a fire pit that the suspects built on federal land, Mrozek said.

All three suspects, Clifford Henry, 22, from Glendora, Steven Aguirre, 21, transient, and Jonathan Jarrell, 24, also transient, are expected to be arraigned in federal court, Wednesday, possibly as early as 11 a.m., Mrozek said.

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