Scottsdale police arrest suspect in Molotov cocktail fires; officers thank community for help
The Scottsdale Police Department arrested 55-year-old Bradley Holmes in connection with multiple vehicle arson incidents caused by Molotov cocktails throughout the month of January.
Holmes was arrested about 7:30 p.m. Friday after detectives at the Mercado Del Lago shopping center at Hayden Road and Via de Ventura in Scottsdale saw him preparing three Molotov cocktails near the parking garage area, according to a Saturday afternoon police news conference.
The detectives waited to make sure the three glass bottles Holmes was preparing were Molotov cocktails before confronting him and making the arrest, said Officer Aaron Bolin, spokesperson for the Police Department.
The arrest was made without incident and Holmes was booked into a Maricopa County jail on Friday night on charges of misconduct involving weapons, Bolin said.
“We are very grateful and happy we had detectives in the right spot to stop another incident from happening that could have injured people or damaged more property,” Bolin said.
Holmes' motive is still unknown, police said. There is no evidence indicating Holmes was intentionally targeting specific individuals, according to the Police Department.
After Holmes was arrested, detectives say they searched his home where they found evidence that linked Holmes to the previous Molotov cocktail incidents.
Investigators turned over evidence from the previous Molotov incidents to their crime lab for forensic analysis, police said.
The Police Department thanked the Scottsdale community for its help in the investigation during the Saturday afternoon news conference, saying it was footage from a resident's Ring doorbell camera that ultimately led to Holmes' arrest.
“We were able to find some video surveillance from one of the previous incidents on a Ring doorbell camera that a citizen had,” Bolin said. “We were able to use that to get a basic description of the male suspect we were searching for, which helped narrow down the investigation.”
The first Molotov cocktail incident happened on Jan. 7 near North Hayden Road and East Via de Ventura. The damaged vehicle was a silver 2018 Lexus RX350.
Exactly one week later, a black 2014 Tesla Model S was set on fire in the Postino Highland parking lot near North Scottsdale and East Camelback roads.
The incidents continued in the same Scottsdale areas in the following weeks, with another car damaged in the Postino Highland parking lot on Jan. 17 and one in the Campo Italian parking lot on Jan. 21.
The Police Department believes Holmes was acting alone, Bolin said.
This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Scottsdale police arrest suspect in Molotov cocktail fires
