ARSON ARREST: Man Booked on Multiple Counts 'Structure/Forest Land' and 'Great Bodily Injury'

A man was arrested Friday and accused of multiple counts of arson in connection with fires in San Bernardino and Riverside counties, according to  inmate records and Cal Fire officials in Riverside County.

Steven Taylor Rutherford, 47, was arrested by Cal Fire at 5:41 p.m. June 28 at 9615 Bluff St. in Banning, according to inmate records. That address is on Banning Bench, above Banning Water Canyon, just north of Gilman Street, and east of Bogart Park in Beaumont.

Rutherford was booked on suspicion of nine counts of arson: structure/forest land and nine counts of arson: causing great bodily injury, according to inmate records. His bail was listed at $5 million.

He has a court date July 3 in downtown Riverside, according to inmate records. The 6-foot, 245-pound man was held behind bars Monday at Robert Presley Detention Center in Riverside.

Rutherford, a resident of Banning, is accused of intentionally setting an unspecified number of fires.

Cal Fire officials in Riverside County issued a press release Monday July 1 about Rutherford's arrest but gave no specifics on which fires he is suspected of intentionally starting.

Battalion Chief Julie Hutchinson of South Ops in Riverside referred questions to the Riverside County District Attorney's Office.

The case against Rutherford "is still in review and no filing decision has been made," a District Attorney's spokesman said just before 5 p.m. July 1.