Police are investigating a car that crashed into a post office in San Jose, California, early on Sunday, causing the building to go up in flames, authorities said. Police reportedly took Richard Tillman – brother of NFL star turned army enlistee Pat Tillman – into custody as a suspect.
The crash happened shortly before 3am at the office located in a strip mall south of downtown, according to the San Jose police department. No injuries were reported.
About 50 firefighters took about an hour and a half to knock down the flames. Photos posted online by the fire department showed a charred car inside the heavily damaged building.
According to NBC Bay Area, the suspect told officers on the scene he was Pat Tillman’s brother. Pat Tillman, a San Jose native, was a safety for the Arizona Cardinals football team who walked away from a multimillion-dollar contract to serve in Iraq after the September 11 attacks. He became an even greater hero in death when he was killed in Afghanistan two years later – until it came out that the Pentagon had lied to cover up that his death was from friendly fire.
The Santa Clara county sheriff office’s inmate locator showed a Richard Tillman was booked on Sunday and was being held without bail. ABC News later reported that Tillman was booked on suspicion of arson.
The network also said it had been told by federal investigators that they were investigating spray-painted words found on the post office building as well as claims that the driver livestreamed crashing into the building.
Pictures from the scene showed the words “viva la me” were spray-painted on the outside of the building.
There is no information so far about what charges Richard Tillman was booked on.
An email was sent to the US Postal Inspection Service seeking additional details.
Nearly 2 million people live in the metropolitan area of San Jose, about 50 miles (80km) south of downtown San Francisco.
