SANTA ANA, Calif. (AP) — A professor at the University of California, Irvine, has been charged with arson after authorities say he set a series of fires at an Orange County high school and threatened to kill school officials and students after his son committed suicide.
Rainer Reinscheid was expected to appear in court Tuesday after he was charged with five counts of arson, one count of attempted arson and a misdemeanor count of resisting or obstructing a police officer.
If convicted, the 48-year-old Irvine resident faces up to nearly 13 years in prison.
Prosecutors say Reinscheid started five fires at University High School earlier this month.
His son had attended the school and been disciplined there this past spring.
The teen killed himself at a park preserve where his father allegedly committed the arsons.
