Palm Desert arson suspect held on no bail

A man arrested last week in connection with an arson in Palm Desert is being held on no bail and is set to appear in court at the Larson Justice Center in Indio next week.

According to county jail records, 34-year-old Bermuda Dunes resident Raul Vega Hernandez was arrested at 11:00 a.m on August 1 on Traviso Drive in Palm Desert. He is accused of starting a series of fires in row of tamarisk trees along the Bermuda Dunes-Palm Desert border on the morning of the 1st.

The blaze, labeled as the Oasis Fire by Cal Fire, was reported before 10 a.m. then was contained in about two hours, but flared back up the next day. No structures were damaged in the blaze.

Hernandez was reportedly seen fleeing the scene of the fires, which were along Country Club Drive near Washington Street in a thicket of tamarisk trees near the railroad tracks and Interstate 10.

County jail records show that Hernandez faces three felony arson charges, three misdemeanor drug charges, one misdemeanor arson materials charge, and a series of charges relating to being a felon facing new charges.

He is set to appear in court on August 14.