Suspect Pleads Not Guilty In Massive Oakland Construction Site Arson
OAKLAND (CBS SF) -- An Oakland man has pleaded not guilty to a federal charge of the arson of an under-construction apartment complex in the city last year.
Dustin Bellinger, 45, entered the plea Tuesday before U.S. Magistrate Donna Ryu in Oakland, according to court records.
He is due to appear March 11 before U.S. District Judge Haywood Gilliam, the trial judge assigned to the case, for the setting of future court dates.
Bellinger, who also uses the name Faheem Bey, is accused of one count of the arson by means of ignited gasoline of one unit on the ground floor of the nearly completed 124-unit Hollis Oak apartment complex in West Oakland on Oct. 23. He has been in custody since his arrest in November.
Bellinger was connected to the fire by the matching of his DNA profile to a reddish-brown smudge inside the sill of a broken window at the fire site, according to an affidavit filed by Agent Cynthia Chang of the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.
An hour earlier than the Hollis Oak fire, another blaze broke out 10 blocks away at a complex known as the Ice House development. No suspect has been named in that fire.
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