A Jamaica Plain man is being held without bail on charges that he deliberately set a fire that largely destroyed his relative’s Washington Street home after an argument on Christmas Day. Jose Vargas Santos, 35, reportedly confessed to the arson later that day and was arraigned on Dec. 26.
Judge Dana Pierce ruled that Santos is “dangerous” and ordered him held without bail at a Jan. 2 hearing. He’s due back in court on Feb. 3, according to District Attorney Kevin Hayden’s office.
No one was hurt in the blaze, which prompted a large Boston Fire Department response around 8 a.m., but it caused serious damage to Santos’s brother’s home at 699 Washington St., just south of Welles Avenue, which fire investigators put at $950,000. A property next door at 697 Washington also sustained about $5,000 in damage, according to a police report.
Police sources say that Santos told officers he was angry after a relative demanded he leave the house earlier that morning. He returned to the residence, waited until family members had left for church, poured gasoline on the floor and set the fire, according to the law enforcement sources.
He later walked into a police station in Waltham and admitted to the crime.
After checking the story, Boston Police went to Waltham and placed Santos under arrest for Arson of a Dwelling after an interview conducted in Spanish.
A Boston Fire arson investigation leaned on surveillance cameras that showed the suspect running into the home, then running out again shortly before the fire ignited inside. The subject on the video appeared to be carrying a can that investigators later found on a nearby property.
At the time of the fire, there were residents at home on the second floor, but they evacuated the home without incident.
