Paranoid man waging months-long personal battle against Google HQ with Molotov cocktails has been arrested

His name is Raul Murillo Diaz, and his crime is arson. At least, that’s according to police records uncovered by Mercury News last week. Diaz evidently has spent the last few months executing a series of attacks on Google headquarters in Mountain View including firing shots through through the windows, hurling Molotov cocktails into the parking lot, and using a squirt gun filled with gasoline to set a Google self-driving car on fire.

Diaz claims that he attacked the search giant because “Google was watching him and that made him upset.” The man claims to have kept extensive journal entries documenting instances of Google’s surveillance on him. He is currently being held without bail.

The earliest of Diaz’s attacks appears to have occurred on May 19th, when a Google employee reported that someone was throwing Molotov cocktails in a Google parking lot. Diaz escalated his attacks on June 4th by firing a gun at a Google building, breaking several windows, and later on the 10th by hosing down a Google vehicle with flammable liquid fired from a squirt gun and setting it alight.

Google has since confirmed with the Verge that no self-driving cars were harmed during Diaz’s attacks, so it’s possible the police affidavit might have misidentified a Google Street View car.

Police arrested the 30-year-old on June 30 after identifying his SUV, which was visible on CCTV footage during all attacks. Upon arrest, the components of a pipe bomb and a weapons case were found in his vehicle.

What are your thoughts regarding these wild events in Mountain View? Let us know in the comments below!