On Saturday, June 20, 2026, at approximately 1929 hours, the Ventura Police Department Communications Center received a call requesting officers check the well-being of an occupant of a room at the Rex Motel.
Officers responded and, upon approaching the related motel room, they saw a significant amount of smoke coming from the room. Ventura City firefighters were summoned to assist. Officers and firefighters attempted to make entry to protect life, but found the door had been barricaded from the inside. Additional efforts were made to force entry, and the door was ultimately forced open. Once the door opened, a large amount of black smoke poured out of the room.
Firefighters made entry to extinguish the fire while wearing their self-contained breathing apparatuses. Once inside, they encountered the suspect in this case, who resisted their efforts to rescue him from the fire.
Ventura PD officers assisted and took the suspect into custody without further incident. At the conclusion of the investigation, David Recalde (32 year-old), of Ventura, was arrested for allegedly to have intentionally set the fire in the motel room. Recalde was already on active parole.
The investigation is still ongoing, and anyone with information about this incident is urged to contact Sergeant Fabian Gutierrez of the Major Crimes Unit at 805-339-4428.