By DOUGLAS W. MOTLEY
Senior Writer
Despite convincing evidence to the contrary, Line Fire arson suspect Justin Wayne Halstenberg told prosecutors he was nowhere in the vicinity of the Sept. 5, 2024, ignition point of the stubborn blaze.
The long-delayed court trial finally got underway in San Bernardino County Superior Court on Monday, April 14.
The Line Fire laid waste to 43,000 acres of forest timber and tinder-dry brush in the hills above the city of Highland and damaged or destroyed five structures, including an inhabited residence near Running Springs. Six firefighters were injured.
Halstenberg, 35, of Norco, denied being in the area until prosecutors confronted him with surveillance photos showing his white, double-cab Chevrolet pickup truck parked on streets near two different fires that had started two hours prior to the start of the Line Fire, at the intersection of Baseline Road and Alpin Street in East Highland.
At both earlier fires, prosecutors said, coins containing DNA evidence and scraps from a yellow legal pad, similar to the coins and paper that were found in Halstenberg’s truck, were also found at the ignition site of the Line Fire. According to a source close to the investigation, the coins were wrapped with the yellow legal paper, which was ignited and then tossed into brush at the three different burn locations.
Halstenberg, who pled not guilty at a Sept. 17, 2024, arraignment hearing to 14 felony charges – including aggravated arson, arson of an inhabited structure and arson causing great bodily injury – could, if convicted of all 14 counts, be sentenced to a term of 20 years in a state prison.
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