A man who was involved in the burning of a Chase bank in La Mesa following a 2020 protest outside the city’s police headquarters has pleaded guilty to his role in the fire.
Alexander King, 20, on Thursday admitted his involvement in the May 30, 2020, fire inside the Chase Bank branch at 4791 Spring St.
King, who pleaded guilty to one felony count of causing a structure fire, remains out of custody awaiting sentencing April 4 at the El Cajon courthouse.
Co-defendant Ricky Bernard Cooper, 34, pleaded guilty to arson and robbery charges for his role in the bank fire as well as the looting of stores at the La Mesa Springs Mall. Cooper received two years of probation last fall.
Prosecutors allege that several people, some of whom are still at large, started fires inside the bank, which burned to the ground. It was one of several structures that burned during riots that erupted in the days after the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis, as well as the arrest of another black man, Amaurie Johnson, in La Mesa a few days later.
Others charged in connection with the post-protest unrest include Daniel Louis Sandoval, 44, who pleaded guilty to arson for his role in the burning of the Randall Lamb and Associates building on Palm Avenue, and Zachary Alexander Karas, who was sentenced to nearly three years in federal prison after being convicted of bringing Molotov cocktails to the protest.
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