He is accustomed to talking to the press, and it's his job to generate interest in an event. A neighbor says he is articulate, educated and exhibits enormous self-assurance. The arsonist told New Times a group of mountain bike enthusiasts had joined together in the Coalition to Save the Preserves, protesting sprawl by torching homes under construction near the mountain preserves. The key, the arsonist said, was that they blended in with the neighborhoods in which they operated, like once greeting a police officer as one of the members left the scene of a crime. Sands' brown stucco home in the 9000 block of North 28th Street backs up to the Preserve.
Residents regularly use the streets or hiking trails.
Neighbors say Sands walked his dog or rode his mountain bike on the paths every day, usually very early in the morning and very late at night. One person he would frequently greet was the owner of a construction site on North Arroya Grande, a home that was twice burned, according to the owner who asked that her name not be used. After two notes were found on the property warning the owner not to build again, the family put up a sign in an attempt to dissuade the arsonist from again torching their planned retirement home. He was arrested five minutes later with a red marker in his possession. The arsonist told New Times his group had at least four members.