Indio men arrested for arson, burglary of La Quinta home

Two Indio men are in jail for allegedly setting a La Quinta home on fire and burglarizing others, according to police.

Wednesday, CalFire and the La Quinta Police Department put out a fire in the 49300 block of Montana Way in Rancho La Quinta. No one was hurt; the fire caused $750,000 in damage. Investigators were able to quickly identify the cause of the fire as arson, based on evidence at the scene.

Investigators and the La Quinta Special Enforcement Team located additional homes in the area that were burglarized, and found the suspects attempted to ignite a second fire in one of the homes.

Police arrested suspects Joseph Ortiz, age 18 of Indio, and Adrian Guzman also 18 from Indio, on the 43500 block of Jackson Street. Sergeant Alan Northrup reports that while serving a search warrant, police found evidence and stolen property, linking the suspects to the arson and burglaries.

Both suspects were booked into the Riverside County jail in Indio for three counts of burglary, arson, and vehicle theft.