Update: Nathan Augustine was in court on Friday where he pleaded not-guilty. He will have another court hearing on December 17th.
MONTEREY, Calif- Police have made an arrest in connection with two arson fires that were started at area businesses in the Monterey and Pacific Grove areas.
Monterey and Pacific Grove Detectives arrested Nathan Abel Augustine, a 35 year old from Monterey on Friday, for the arson fires at Creative Visions tattoo parlor in Monterey on July 13 and Latitude's Restaurant in Pacific Grove on July 15.
Augustine had been arrested for vandalism on October 20 and was later released with a citation. Detectives later discovered that he was on probation out of Ventura County for vandalism and weapons violations and was subject to search and seizure.
During the search, a firearm was located along with other evidence the detectives believe connect him to the two arson fires.
Augustine was arrested and charged with the ammunition violation, felon in possession of a firearm, and two counts of Arson.
For Creative Visions owner Margi Perotti it's an emotional day, "I'm happy I mean I look at the guy on the screen and I'm just like wow you know I still don't understand why," said Perotti.
The fire caused about $10,000 worth of damage to her tattoo parlor this summer and turned her life upside down, "Always worrying always worrying about if my workers are safe. I was spending more money on security more money on windows it's just been pretty stressful," said Perotti.
Police say arson is not normal in this area and they are now investigating other arsons to see if Augustine may been responsible. Employees at Creative Visions recognize Augustine. They say he came in asking for hateful tattoos several times last spring, "He had repeatedly come in wanting tattoos like swastika and we just refused to do them," said Perotti.
Now that Augustine is behind bars, the owners of both Latitudes restaurant in Pacific Grove and Creative Visions are breathing a sigh of relief, "I have this nervous feeling in my stomach like is it really him is it really over. It's a great feeling of relief," said Perotti.
