Police reported that during violent incidents that began more than a year ago at his Morgan Hill home, Officer Timothy Hackney threw his girlfriend into a bedroom and would not let her leave, forcibly covered her mouth so she couldn’t scream and slapped a phone out of her hand so that she couldn’t call 911.

Daniel Catano is also suspected of setting at least eight other fires in Gilroy and committing an auto burglary July 10 in Morgan Hill, when one of the victims—an off-duty officer—followed the suspect, who was able to evade officers.