Police arrest woman for setting fire near old Natural High School

By Elizabeth Larson | Sept. 4, 2021
A Lake County Sheriff’s deputy and a Lakeport Fire Protection District firefighter at the scene of an arson fire set at the old Natural High School on North Main Street in Lakeport, California, on Saturday, August 28, 2021. Photo courtesy of the Lakeport Police Department.

LAKEPORT, Calif. — Authorities said they took a woman into custody last weekend for arson after she set a fire on a city-owned property.

Janis Lynn Martinez, 38, a transient from the Lakeport area, was taken into custody on the morning of Saturday, Aug. 28, the Lakeport Police Department reported.

At 9:15 a.m. that day, Lakeport Police, with the assistance of the Lake County Sheriff's Office and Lakeport Fire Protection District, arrested Martinez for arson after witnesses identified her as having started a fire against the structure known as the old Natural High School.

The building is in the city’s parklands on North Main Street, and next to the new Lakefront Park development.

Authorities said Martinez is believed to have also started a nearby fire just minutes beforehand.

Both fires were extinguished before any significant damage resulted, officials said.

Martinez was booked into the Lake County Jail on a felony charge of arson of a structure, with bail set at $50,000. Jail records show that she also is being held on a misdemeanor charge of trespassing.

She remained in custody on Saturday, according to booking records.

Martinez is scheduled to appear in Lake County Superior Court on Sept. 27.

Email Elizabeth Larson at elarson@lakeconews.com. Follow her on Twitter, @ERLarson, or Lake County News, @LakeCoNews.