2 arson arrests, stolen construction equipment and weapons recovered at ‘nuisance’ mobile home park

SAN ANTONIO (KTSA News) -Bexar County authorities descended on a mobile home park in the far Northeast Side Tuesday which has been the site of recent arson fires and other crimes.

The Bexar County Fire Marshal’s office, sheriff’s deputies,  and various other county agencies conducted a ‘health and safety’ operation at Jasper Mobile Home Park on  Walzem Road.

Sheriff Javier Salazar told  KTSA News they’ve received  360 calls since May of last year for various complaints and criminal offenses.

“People have been living in squalor here and it’s become a nuisance property to the sheriff’s office and to area residents,” Salazar said.

He claims squatters and homeless people have taken over several of the mobile homes and some have illegally connected utilities to those structures.

“We’ve identified a total of 55 vacant and unsecured structures,” said John Ortega, chief investigator in the Bexar County Fire Marshal’s office.  “The property owner is in the process of being issued fire marshal’s orders requiring the remediation of those hazards.”

There have been numerous arson fires at the mobile home park, with the most recent occurring last week.  KTSA News reported on a fire that destroyed two mobile homes in February.  Deputies on Tuesday arrested two arson suspects.

“They were trying to intimidate some of the witnesses in those arson cases,” Salazar said.

Deputies on Tuesday also recovered stolen weapons and construction equipment.

“Our auto theft people are out here and they’ve just discovered a stolen backhoe,” he said.

The investigation continues.