On Saturday, March 18th, 2023, at 10:35 pm, a Turlock Police officer near the intersection of S Broadway and A St, Turlock, observed a man using a lighter to light some trash in the gutter of the roadway on fire, so he got out with him.

The officer identified the man as Sammie Lawrence, 51, of Sacramento, and then used a water bottle to extinguish the fire.

When the officer asked Lawrence why he had lit the fire, he stated that he wanted to end human trafficking.

Lawrence was arrested and booked into the Stanislaus County Public Safety Center on the charge of unlawfully causing a fire.