OTHER NEWS - March 8, 1993

IBM Employee Charged With Arson: An IBM employee on disability leave has been charged with setting his boss’s house on fire and then lighting a gasoline container inside an IBM building in San Jose. John Kleder, a senior laboratory specialist, was arrested and charged with arson after a chase through San Jose, police spokesman William Puckett said. Kleder has been on medical disability leave since July, 1991. Puckett said Kleder is alleged to have gone to the home of his boss in San Jose and started a fire inside the house, causing unknown damage. He then allegedly went to an IBM research and development center in San Jose and drove his car through a glass and steel door at the building and ignited a container of gasoline before driving away, according to Gerry Marmion, an IBM spokesman. Employees put out the fire, and damage was limited to the area around the door, Marmion said. The building’s 1,200 employees were evacuated for a time, but there were no injuries, he said.