LOS ANGELES (CN) - A recidivist arsonist was sentenced to 51 months in federal prison on Monday for setting fire to a Southern California church that houses a preschool while there were 48 children inside.

Jonathan Barajas Nava, 37, of Albuquerque, New Mexico, was also ordered to pay $7,008 in restitution, according to a statement from the U.S. attorney's office in Los Angeles.

On April 24, 2024, Nava set fire to the Retreat Church and Yucaipa Christian Preschool in Yucaipa, California, in the middle of the day. He pulled into the church's driveway, poured gasoline on the front door and set it on fire before driving away in his pickup truck, witnesses told law enforcement.

There were 14 staff members in the building in addition to the children, who were all evacuated unharmed. The church sustained minor damage.

Shortly after he set fire to the church, Nava went to a nearby strip mall where he started a fire at the exterior wall of an optometrist's office near where eight gas meters were located.

He was caught a few hours later after he got his pickup stuck on top of a chain-link fence that he had knocked over while backing up. When a deputy arrived, Nava was continuously revving his engine to try to get unstuck. As the deputy told him to get out of his truck, flames erupted inside the cabin and Nava's leg caught fire.

According to his plea agreement, Nava set fire to the church because of its religious character.

Two years earlier, Nava had been arrested in connection with a church fire in Albuquerque. When local police located him a mile away from the church, he was trying to light a gas pump on fire. He fled in his vehicle, and after he crashed, he grabbed one of the responding officer's patrol rifles and punched another before being placed under arrest.

He was on probation from his New Mexico conviction when he traveled to California and set fire to the church in Yucaipa.

"In this case, a high-end sentence is appropriate for a recidivist who lit a church on fire while on probation in another case involving a church fire," prosecutors said in arguing for a 51-month prison term. "Defendant received a lenient sentence - five years' probation - notwithstanding the serious nature of his 2022 crimes."

In addition, they argued, Nava has not demonstrated a willingness to receive treatment for his mental health issues. While in custody, they said, he stopped taking prescribed medications because he doesn't like the side effects.

In a letter to the judge, the 70-year-old "lunch lady" at the preschool described the trauma Nava's actions caused.

"Everyone that day was harmed in many different ways, and it will take me, because of past trauma in my life, a very long time to heal from this," she wrote. "The fact that Mr. Barajas-Nava intentionally set fire to a school that he knew was occupied by children is frightening. He could have easily killed over 40+ children that day."

Source: Courthouse News Service