The Superior Court has allowed a former disc jockey accused of setting fire to a car to post bail.
Associate Judge Joseph N. Camacho modified the $10,000 cash bail imposed on Aziz Peter Mettao and allowed the 27-year-old suspect to post just 10 percent of the amount, or $1,000, plus a $9,000 appearance bond.
Mettao's mother, Julita, was named as the suspect's primary third party custodian and his godmother, Ana Maria Limes, as secondary third party custodian.
The former disc jockey of Power 99 Studio is accused of setting fire to the company's vehicle on Sept. 10, 2012.
Mettao is prohibited from having direct or indirect contact with Power 99 Radio Station and is required to observe a daily 7pm to 7am curfew.
Camacho said that any person accused of committing a crime is presumed innocent until proven guilty. “Therefore a person charged with a crime should not be denied freedom unless there is a good reason. An arrest only initiates the criminal justice system. An arrest is not a conviction,” he explained.
He pointed out that in felony cases it is the jury that weighs the evidence and issues the verdict.
“Today is only a bail hearing and we are not yet at the trial stage,” Camacho said.
Arson investigator Norman Skilling stated in his report that police received a call from a man on Sept. 10, 2012, at 3:51am that a vehicle was on fire west of the Power 99 building.
When police officer Daniel Smith arrived at the scene, he saw a silver Hyundai Tucson with license plate ADY 761 with its interior engulfed in flames.
A firefighter came and extinguished the blaze. The vehicle sustained extensive damage inside. The window glasses were shattered and the upper portion of the front windshield had cracks.
Skilling said a witness saw a man, later identified as Mettao, throw a bottle to the left rear window of the Power 99 vehicle, triggering the fire. He saw the suspect throw another bottle at the car, but this time the bottle bounced.
The witness said the fire caught the suspect in the back. The witness and his companion chased the suspect who ran toward a house.
The second witness recognized the suspect as Mettao. While Smith was still at the scene, a person approached and disclosed that Mettao was hiding near the area.
Smith spotted Mettao and escorted him to the main roadway where he then called the two witnesses. The witnesses identified Mettao as the person they saw burning the vehicle.
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