Mendocino County Man Accused of Harassing Fellow Tenants, Setting Fire to Home
MANCHESTER, CA — “On 9/11/25 at approximately 4:44 A.M., Deputies from the Mendocino County Sheriff’s Office were dispatched to an agency assist call with the South Coast Fire Protection District in the Manchester, CA area. The South Coast Fire Protection District had been dispatched to a residential structure fire in the area of the 21000 block of Rancheria Road accessed off Mountain View Road.
Upon arrival of fire personnel at the scene, they were informed the fire had been intentionally set by a next-door neighbor. Deputies arrived and were informed by one of the victims that the primary tenant of the property, Steven Harper, was intoxicated and had been harassing his sublet tenants and threatening to burn their cabin and tent throughout the night if they did not leave his property. Harper later set fire to the cabin and tent and vandalized a vehicle belonging to one of the other tenants. Harper had since left the scene of the fire and hid from law enforcement inside his residence approximately 30 feet away.
Sheriff’s Office Deputies developed a tactical plan to extract Harper from his residence and began calling out to Harper, requesting that he surrender. Harper eventually complied by exiting the residence and was taken into custody without further incident. The cabin, tent, and personal belongings of the victims were completely destroyed by the fire. No other structures or wildland were threatened by the fire. An arson investigator from the Ukiah Valley Fire Authority responded to the scene of the fire and conducted an arson investigation into this incident.
Harper was arrested without incident for the charges of 451(b) PC – Arson of an inhabited structure, 594(b)(1) PC – Felony vandalism over $400, and 1203.2 PC – Violation of probation. Harper was transported to the Mendocino County Jail where he was to be held on a no-bail status due to him violating the terms of his probation.”
