Man Indicted on Arson Charges in Fires at Phoenix Luxury Homes

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Jun 14, 2001

By Giovanna Dell'orto
Associated Press Writer

PHOENIX (AP) - A man was arrested Thursday on arson and extortion charges stemming from a series of fires that destroyed luxury homes under construction near desert mountain preserves.

The 22-count federal indictment accuses Mark Warren Sands of setting eight fires at homes in Phoenix and suburban Scottsdale between April 9, 2000, and Jan. 18, 2001, said U.S. Attorney Paul Charlton.

In court late Thursday, Sands was ordered held in FBI custody until a detention hearing scheduled for Tuesday. His trial was scheduled for Aug. 7.

Sands' attorney, Carmen Fischer, declined to comment after the hearing. There was no answer at Sands' home and a message left by The Associated Press on his wife's cellular phone was not immediately returned.

The indictment says Sands wrote letters to at least one homeowner and a contractor against rebuilding the homes stating, "Thou shalt not desecrate God's creation."

Sands was arrested in April after authorities said he was seen scrawling the letters "CSP" on a sign at a home under construction near the Phoenix Mountain Preserve. He was later released because prosecutors did not meet a deadline for filing charges after his arrest.

The indictment said "CSP" and "Coalition to Save the Preserve" was found on the letters Sands is accused of circulating at some of the arson scenes. The acronym was also found in notes and letters sent to the media.

Since 1998, 11 fires at upscale homes under construction near mountain recreation areas have been attributed to arson.

Nine were near the Phoenix Mountain Preserve, a scenic stretch of mountains running through the middle of Phoenix; two were next to a mountain preserve in suburban Scottsdale.

The last fire occurred in mid-January.

Notes protesting development in the scenic desert land were left after some of the fires. Scrawled across a sign in April 2000 was: "If you build it again, we will burn it again." After an October fire, a typed letter was left at the scene with warnings against building in the desert.

At the news conference Thursday, federal authorities did not comment on a possible motive.

This week in Tucson, four partly built luxury homes were burned, and investigators were seeking possible ties to the Phoenix fires.

Nicole Feldt, a sheriff's department spokeswoman in Tucson, said investigators hadn't found anything yet linking the fires there to the Phoenix arsons.

AP-ES-06-14-01 2027EDT

This story can be found at : http://ap.tbo.com/ap/breaking/MGAQMLH7ZNC.html