Contributed Photo/Courtesy GCSO: Linda Bustamante, 36, was arrested and booked into jail on a charge of arson of an occupied structure.
By Jon Johnson
SAFFORD – Surveillance footage from a victim’s Ring doorbell camera assisted in the apprehension of a possibly mentally disturbed woman for arson.
According to a Safford Police report, authorities believe Linda Marie Bustamante, 36, of Safford, intentionally set fires around the victim’s home, burning brush and melting parts of a chicken coop as well as other damage that was listed as being approximately $300 in cost. The Safford Fire Department also responded to the residence and extinguished the largest brush fire believed to be started by Bustamante.
Bustamante had already been arrested and booked into jail May 29 on an unrelated warrant and had been trespassed from Walmart recently after an alleged cosmetics shoplifting attempt. After officers viewed the surveillance footage from the victim’s residence, Bustamante was arrested June 5 and booked into the Graham County Adult Detention Facility on a charge of arson of an occupied structure.
According to the report, Bustamante was viewed on the Ring doorbell camera lighting brush and multiple other objects on fire around the home multiple times between the hours of 1:20 a.m. and 4:40 a.m. The investigating officer reported that each instance had the potential of catching the homeowner’s residence on fire while the occupants slept inside.
In addition to the surveillance footage positively identifying Bustamante, several items of clothing and a pair of shoes were also located at the scene that the officer had noticed Bustamante wearing previously.
At about 2:13 p.m. on June 5, Bustamante was located and was arrested and taken to jail. The officer advised that he believed Bustamante to have some sort of mental issue.
