Monday, October 9, 2023, 10:52
The Nature Protection Service (SEPRONA) of the Civil Guard has arrested a man as the alleged perpetrator of the forest fire that in 2022 devastated more than 3,000 hectares in the province of Guadalajara, part of them in the Natural Park of the Sierra Norte, and forced the eviction of four municipalities.
The 38-year-old man has been arrested in Talavera de la Reina (Toledo) after more than a year of investigations and is also linked to more forest fires recorded in the province of Guadalajara in recent years. The most serious was the one that occurred in July 2022 in Valdepeñas de la Sierra (Guadalajara). It took the firefighters six days to extinguish it, with 3,010 hectares burned and numerous material damages to private properties in the towns of Tortuero, Valdepeñas de la Sierra, Puebla de Valles and La Vereda, whose neighbors had to be evacuated due to the proximity of the flames. .
The investigations focused on this man who had resided in the area in recent years and who had abandoned his residence in the first days of the fire. The location and subsequent arrest of him has not been easy since he used all available means within his reach to hide his identity. Thus, he has been hiding for months in towns in the provinces of Madrid and Toledo until the Civil Guard has found his whereabouts in Talavera de la Reina.
The arrested person, of Spanish nationality, has numerous police records for crimes against property and is subject to a prison sentence issued by a court in Madrid.
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