San Diego black man who got $100K from donors after food truck burned is convicted of arson

https://www.nbcsandiego.com/news/local/san-diego-man-who-got-100k-from-
donors-after-food-truck-burned-is-convicted-of-arson/3442218/

A businessman whose food truck was destroyed in a Kearny Mesa blaze was 
convicted this week of arson, insurance fraud and grand theft charges, 
with prosecutors alleging he set the fire in order to collect hundreds of 
thousands of dollars in insurance money and donations.

On Wednesday, a San Diego jury found Avonte Hartsfield guilty of setting 
his Rollin Roots food truck ablaze on Oct. 3, 2021. He faces up to seven 
years and four months in prison at sentencing, currently set for next 
month.

Following the fire, Hartsfield raised around $100,000 through a GoFundMe 
campaign in which he said he was a target of hate crimes. The 27-year-old 
also received more than $235,000 from his insurance company, prosecutors 
said, and a $20,000 donation from the Sycuan Band of the Kumeyaay Nation 
shortly after the fire.

Hartsfield told police that in the days leading up to the fire, his truck 
and office had been broken into multiple times and some of his equipment 
had been vandalized. He also said he found a makeshift noose hanging in 
his office.

Deputy District Attorney Judy Taschner told jurors that surveillance 
footage from a business near Hartsfield's office placed him at the scene 
just before the fire broke out.

The food truck is not visible in the footage, but a man whom police say 
was Hartsfield is seen walking in the direction of the truck. A short time 
later, the same man is seen walking away from the truck and flickering 
lights can be seen from the area where the truck was parked.

A car resembling Hartsfield's personal vehicle can be seen arriving at the 
scene and leaving soon after the time of the fire, police said.

Hartsfield initially told police he had parked the truck outside his 
office on the night of the fire, went home, then found the truck burned 
down the following day.

In a phone conversation between Hartsfield and SDPD detective John Clayton 
that took place about six months after the fire, the detective told 
Hartsfield that because of the surveillance footage, police knew he was 
there at the scene of the fire.

Hartsfield explained that he had gone back to the office to check on 
things due to the recent break-ins, but didn't see anyone there and left 
before the fire began.

Hartsfield later revised his account, telling Clayton that while there, a 
man armed with a gun threatened him, prompting him to run and head home.

After Clayton told him that he didn't believe the gunman story, Hartsfield 
said the fire was actually started by a rice cooker he left on in the 
truck. When the rice cooker sparked the fire, Hartsfield said, he panicked 
and left.

When asked why he didn't initially explain about the rice cooker, 
Hartsfield said the people who had been targeting his business would have 
set the truck ablaze at some point regardless, but he'd hoped the truck 
fire might spur police to investigate the break-ins and other incidents he 
said actually occurred.

Taschner told jurors that a fire investigation determined the fire could 
not have been started by the rice cooker as described.

She also said Hartsfield made a series of internet searches leading up to 
the fire that included car explosions and other searches involving burning 
items.

Hartsfield, who represented himself in the case, denied setting the blaze 
in his closing arguments to the jury and said his statements in the phone 
conversation with Clayton were the product of a coerced and false 
confession.

Hartsfield maintained that he was at home at the time the fire was set and 
denied being the man prosecutors said was him in the surveillance footage. 
He also argued the surveillance footage only showed one portion of the 
area and that other potential suspects not visible in the footage may have 
set the fire.

Hartsfield also accused investigators of having "tunnel vision" in 
maintaining he was the suspect and failing to investigate other potential 
perpetrators, such as the people he says had been breaking into his truck.

"They had their guy and they were going to make sure of it, no matter 
what," Hartsfield said.

A San Diego County food truck operator who received more than $100,000 in 
donations after his truck burned to the ground is now being charged with 
arson.

Hartsfield told NBC 7 in November 2022 that “I'm very much looking forward 
to going to court." We first spoke with Hartsfield in October 2021 after 
his food truck burned.

 “This is something that's a completely different level,” he said at the 
time in reference to the noose he allegedly found.

In March 2022, Hartfield posted on the fundraiser page that he learned the 
fire was not arson or vandalism but was caused by an electrical mishap, 
and he offered refunds to donors.

“I corrected the information … some people collected their money back,” he 
said. “But I’m pretty transparent, so I set the record straight when I 
need to.”


-- 
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President Trump boosted the economy, reduced illegal invasions, appointed 
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