RIVERSIDE — A transient who ignited a fire that destroyed a building in downtown Riverside pleaded guilty Monday to arson resulting in property damage and was immediately sentenced to six months in jail and two years’ felony probation.
Isaac Gutierrez Avila, 44, admitted the charge under a plea agreement with the Riverside County District Attorney’s Office. In exchange for his admission, prosecutors dropped a related count against Avila.
The plea was announced during a pretrial hearing Monday at the Riverside Hall of Justice. Superior Court Judge Joshlyn Pulliam certified the terms of the agreement and imposed the sentence stipulated by the prosecution and defense.
Pulliam specified that, instead of spending the entire six months behind bars in county jail, Avila could enroll in a sheriff’s work release program for three months, enabling him to work full-time, volunteer for a nonprofit or attend vocational school.
Avila’s co-defendant, 42-year-old Pasha Sadavandi, pleaded guilty in April 2024 to being an accessory to a felony and was sentenced to 24 months’ probation.
The pair were arrested in 2023 following a joint investigation by the Riverside police and fire departments.
According to police Officer Ryan Railsback, the fire erupted shortly before 5 a.m. on May 16, 2023, at 3460 Orange St., directly across from the Riverside Convention Center.
The single-story building was city-owned and had been used as an office complex but was vacant at the time of the blaze.
Railsback said five engine crews and a truck company, numbering more than two dozen personnel, were sent to the three-alarm fire and encountered flames raging throughout the structure, prompting firefighters to abandon trying to save it and instead turn to “saving the surrounding buildings, including a nearby senior living facility.”
Fire Capt. Ray Mendoza said that over a 16-hour period, “almost 6 million gallons of water were used to mitigate the fire, utilizing rotating engine crews.”
“Once the visible fire was extinguished, it still took several days before a complete search inside the building for potential victims could begin due to the unstableness of the structure and smoldering areas within,” Mendoza said.
No one was found in the remnants, and no injuries were reported. What was left of the building was torn down, and the property is now a vacant lot.
Railsback said the loss was estimated to be “in the millions of dollars.”
Detectives and arson investigators initiated a search for evidence that ultimately led to the identification of Avila as the person at the site when the fire began. He and Sadavandi were taken into custody without incident at the end of May 2023.
Sadavandi was an associate of the defendant, but his role as an accessory was not explained.
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