Police arrested a man in Twentynine Palms Saturday after they say he set 10 small brush fires and threw a knife at a Sheriff’s deputy.
Michael Pace, 53, a transient from Twentynine Palms, was arrested for investigation of assault with a deadly weapon against a peace officer and for arson, reports the Press Enterprise.
Authorities were called to the Stater Bros. on Twentynine Palms Highway at 11 a.m. because of a brush fire behind the building. Witnesses told the cops that they saw a man running from the scene.
Deputies found Pace in the nearby foothills where he threw a knife at the officers. The knife missed, but Pace had another knife that cut a deputy when the officer tried to disarm the suspect. The cut to the officer’s arm was described as minor.
A Sheriff’s Department Arson and Bomb Detective identified 10 small brush fires Pace had set in the area.
Pace was booked into the Morongo Basin Jail.
