San Diego
The owner of a Kearny Mesa video store that was burned Nov. 8 was ordered Monday to stand trial for arson and attempted insurance fraud.
Hong Phuc Van, 22, who owned VP Video Store on Mesa College Drive, and Thanh Le, 20, of Westminster in Orange County, were bound over for trial after their preliminary hearing, where a co-defendant testified against them.
On Friday, co-defendant Dung Diep, 21, of Westminster, testifying as part of a plea bargain, said Van hired him and Le to set fire to the store and that each was to collect $2,500.
Diep pleaded guilty Thursday to arson and received a promise from the district attorney’s office that it will not seek a jail sentence for him of more than a year. Diep was freed from jail after he finished testifying. His sentencing is set for March 21.
Deputy Dist. Atty. Daniel Lamborn said a witness Monday testified that the fire caused more than $130,000 in damages.
San Diego Municipal Judge H. Ronald Domnitz ordered Van and Le to appear Jan. 4 in Superior Court for arraignment and trial setting.
Le and Diep both suffered severe burns. They were arrested several days after the fire after authorities found them in an Orange County burn unit. Le and Van remain in County Jail in lieu of bail of $100,000 and $50,000, respectively.
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