A man arrested Friday on suspicion of setting fire to the law offices of Vallejo Mayor Osby Davis struggled with paranoid delusions for years, and once cut down a tree in front of his home because he thought people were spying on him from its branches, family members said.
Maude Love, 44, was troubled in many ways and lived on the street when he wasn’t in a jail cell, a psychiatric ward or a drug rehabilitation center. But relatives said he had one prime obsession: a belief that Davis had wronged him a decade ago.
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The suspect’s sister-in-law, Teresa Love, said Maude Love had sought to take ownership of the Vallejo home he grew up in – a duplex on Louisiana Street – after the death of his grandmother in 1994 and the passing of his mother five years later.
She said Davis represented her brother-in-law in the probate proceedings. Maude Love sued Davis in Solano County small claims court in 2005, records show, the same year that the family lost ownership.
“He has had it in for the mayor ever since,” said Teresa Love. “That’s the only house he ever lived in. … His whole life right now is getting his house back.”
She said her brother-in-law had admitted to smashing Davis’ windows in the past. Still, she was surprised to hear about the arson accusations.
“He wouldn’t want anyone to get hurt,” she said.
In a brief interview at his home late Friday, Davis said he had a “past professional relationship” with Maude Love but declined to elaborate, citing the ongoing investigation.
After the fire destroyed much of his Tuolumne Street law office, Davis labeled the arson part of “an escalating attempt to intimidate me.” Davis, mayor since 2007, has overseen unpopular budget cuts and layoffs as the result of his city’s high-profile bankruptcy, from which it emerged a year ago.
On Friday, he said, “If it’s not political, I’m glad.”
Maude Love was arrested on suspicion of arson in connection with the Sept. 29 fire at the law office Davis shares with Micheal Thompson. He was also arrested on suspicion of setting two earlier blazes.
Those happened June 6 at the former Cooley and Riolo Mortuary on Couch Street, which has been closed since January, and July 30 at the Taylor Chapel church on Louisiana Street.
Teresa Love said the mortuary had handled services for a number of family members, including Maude Love’s mother and his nephew.
Taylor Chapel is just a few houses down from Maude Love’s former home. Teresa Love said it was her church, and that before it was set ablaze, she found notes there from someone who claimed that Vallejo churches were evil.
