SANTA CRUZ — A 42-year-old homeless man was behind bars without bail Tuesday, the focus of a police investigation into a church grounds cross burning.
Santa Cruz Police Department investigators believe Don Marc Allen Louis was behind Friday’s charring of a wooden cross displayed in front of Holy Cross Church on High Street. He was booked Tuesday into Santa Cruz County Jail on suspicion of felony arson and an infraction for use of offensive words in public.
Investigators, working with the department’s Homeless Response Team, identified Louis based on past law enforcement encounters with the man, according to a Santa Cruz Police Department social media post. He was later located near the train tracks close to Coral Street.
Santa Cruz Deputy Police Chief Jon Bush said Monday, prior to Louis’ arrest, that the department would be assessing the addition of a possible hate crime enhancement charge, based on interviews with the alleged arsonist.
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“It’s obviously a very strong possibility it could be,” Bush said this week. “Was he setting the fire just to get warm for the night because it was cold or was he starting the fire because he had some sort of bias or hate for a particular religion. Until we actually get our hands on him and talk to him and dig a little more and investigate more, we can’t say for certain.”
Police continued to investigate Louis’ alleged arson motive Tuesday, according to the department’s post.
Emergency responders initially were called to the church property around 11:30 p.m., Friday, after a resident reported seeing flames. A subsequent investigation revealed video surveillance capturing footage of a single individual allegedly loitering on the grounds near the cross for nearly half an hour before smoke was noted, according to a department social media post.