Story Archive

Guess Who?

Multiple fires were set in front of a house in Santa Rosa, Calif. One burned a pickup truck, while another was on the doorstep — a burning box of what appeared to be dog poop. A brick pillar had also been knocked down and there was a large, dead woodpecker left on the doormat. Sebastopol contractor Gary Howard, 50, was arrested in connection with the event, and Santa Rosa police believe he intended to send a message to a local criminal defense attorney. But the targeted house isn’t owned by a defense attorney, but by another man with the same name — which is being withheld. The attorney said he’s never represented Howard. Monte Hanson, Howard’s new defense lawyer, said Howard has never been arrested in Sonoma County, but may have suffered a “break with reality.” Still, he says Howard is “not a danger to the public and certainly not to the victim or victims in this case. I agree it presents as a wild, scary situation but it’s far from that.” (MS/Santa Rosa Press-Democrat) ...Only as far as the distance between the two houses.