(Newswire.net — July 13, 2016) —Raul Murillo Diaz, 30, from Oakland, was arrested on suspicion of attacking Google headquarters in Mountain View, California, with molotov cocktails in beer bottles.
Federal prosecutors have also charged him with destroying a self-driving Google car, and terrorizing the campus in Silicon Valley with gunfire and arson attacks.
In an interview with police and prosecutors last week, Diaz admitted starting two fires and discharging a firearm at the Google campus on May 19th this year. He told the investigators that he was planning other attacks, but was stopped by security on June 30th.
He explained that he his motivation for the attacks was that he felt Google was watching him and it made him upset.
Security cameras show a man throwing two Molotov cocktails at the Google Street View car, parked in front of the office. This special vehicle takes panoramic images along many of the streets in the world.
The second attack was reported on June 4th, about a kilometer away from the first arson attack.
A week later, Google was attacked for the third time. A self-driving car was destroyed, and the attacker escaped in a gray 2004 Volkswagen Touareg.
In late June, Google security has noticed the same Touareg SUV and called the police, who recognized Diaz from security camera footage. When police caught him, they found explosive devices in his vehicle.
Despite the three alleged crimes, Diaz was charged in U.S. District Court on July 1st with one count of arson that caused “malicious damage by explosives,” after a May 19 fire at a Google building at 1501 Salado Drive in Mountain View, NBC reports.
The trial ongoing, and if convicted on all counts, Diaz faces a maximum prison term of 20 years and a $250,000 fine. As of Tuesday, he was being held without bail in federal custody at the Santa Clara County Jail.