Walnut Creek Man Arrested For Molotov Cocktail Rampage

CONCORD - A Walnut Creek man - who says he was abandoned by his groomsmen after his marriage failed - is in jail for allegedly torching those friends’ homes and cars with Molotov cocktails.

Afterwards, police say 33-year-old Joshua Van Buskirk left joker cards at homes of the victims.

In a jailhouse interview conducted by the Contra Costa Times, 33-year-old Joshua Van Buskirk denies any wrongdoing.

“No, sir,” Van Buskirk told the paper when asked if he committed the fires.

Police arrested Van Buskirk as a suspect in a string of arson fires in Antioch, Concord, and Pleasant Hill. He is currently in the Contra Costa County Jail in Martinez on a $2.1 million bail.

“It tore me apart because I’d been there for them,” Van Buskirk told the paper. “They didn’t even reach out to me or care one bit. They didn’t say ‘Happy Thanksgiving’ or ‘Merry Christmas’ or any of that (expletive). They just dropped me.”

According to the Times, Van Buskirk pleaded not guilty to three counts of arson, three counts of possession of Molotov cocktails, one count of arson of an inhabited property and two counts of child abuse.