CHP arrests Nevada woman for setting roadside fire
- Elizabeth Larson
LAKE COUNTY, Calif. — On Wednesday the California Highway Patrol arrested a Nevada woman who is believed to have set a fire along Highway 29 near Kelseyville.
The CHP’s Clear Lake Area office said it took Nickelina Rose Williams, 38, of Fallon into custody on Wednesday afternoon.
Williams is the latest in a growing list of women over the past two years to be arrested in Lake County for arson.
At 3:06 p.m. Wednesday, the CHP said officers Brian Hanson and Jacob Hoberg were dispatched to a call of a possible wildland fire on Highway 29 near Bottle Rock Road.
Radio traffic indicated there were multiple callers reporting the roadside fire, which was spreading into a field.
When Hanson and Hoberg arrived in the area, the CHP said the officers located a group of motorists who had stopped and were attempting to extinguish a 10-foot by 10-foot fire just off Highway 29’s south shoulder.
The CHP said Officer Hoberg contacted Nickelina Williams, who was walking southbound on Highway 29 near the fire’s ignition point.
Williams denied any knowledge about the fire, however, the CHP said the investigation determined that Williams possessed a lighter and ignition materials matching materials found at the site of the fire ignition point.
Cal Fire Battalion Chief Arson Investigator Joe Baldwin also responded and assisted officers at the scene, the CHP said.
Officer Hanson placed Williams under arrest on suspicion of arson less than an hour after the incident was reported. She was later booked at the Lake County Jail, according to her booking sheet.
Williams remained in custody early Friday, with two felony charges of arson and two misdemeanor arrest warrants listed on her booking sheet. She is being held on no bail for the arson counts.
Booking records show that Williams, whose occupation is listed as “fast food,” is due to be arraigned in Lake County Superior Court on Friday.
The CHP said the case remains under investigation. Any witnesses to the incident are asked to call the Clear Lake CHP Office at 707-279-0103.
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