A driver was arrested Sunday after a vehicle crashed into a post office in San Jose and set the building ablaze, authorities said.

Officials said the man, Richard Tillman, 44, is believed to be the youngest brother of Pat Tillman, a former professional football player turned Army Ranger who was killed in Afghanistan in 2004. Richard Tillman was arrested on suspicion of arson, officials said. He was being held at the Santa Clara County jail.

Firefighters were called about 3 a.m. Sunday to a post office in the Almaden Valley area of San Jose, where they found that a vehicle had plowed through the front of the building, authorities said. It took them more than 90 minutes to extinguish the fire. No one was injured.

In a statement, the Postal Inspection Service said it was “investigating the incident as a potentially intentional act,” along with local law enforcement agencies. The agency also said Tillman was “reported to be the brother of” Pat Tillman, a star defensive back for the Arizona Cardinals who left the team to enlist in the U.S. Army after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.

It was not immediately clear whether Richard Tillman had legal representation. His family members declined to comment Sunday.

‘Senseless Act of Destruction’

“I’m grateful no one was seriously hurt by this senseless act of destruction,” San Jose Mayor Matt Mahan said in a statement Sunday. He also acknowledged that mental health issues could have been a factor.

“Criminal acts require accountability,” Mahan added, “but we also need to commit ourselves to expanding behavioral health treatment and intervening earlier in California to reduce the likelihood that situations like this transpire.”

Pat Tillman was a high-profile representative of a surge in patriotism and interest in military service inspired by the Sept. 11 attacks, forsaking a multimillion-dollar football career to become an Army Ranger. He became emblematic of the steep sacrifice that can come with military service when he was killed in 2004.

Richard Tillman, along with other relatives, publicly challenged the official account of his brother’s death. Military officials originally claimed that Pat Tillman had been shot by Afghan militants before disclosing that he had been killed by friendly fire. (A third brother, Kevin, also served in Afghanistan as an Army Ranger.)

Richard Tillman appeared in a documentary directed by Amir Bar-Lev detailing the family’s exhaustive efforts to reveal a more complicated story of Pat Tillman’s life and death, as well as their anger with military officials.

Richard Tillman Is an Actor and Author

Richard Tillman has also worked as an actor, with a series of small roles in movies and on television, as a standup comedian and as the author of children’s books that sought to impart empathy and compassion.

In recent social media posts and videos, he had described himself as the “second coming” and espoused anti-government ideas.

Josef Cannon, an actor, writer and friend of Tillman, said he was “stunned” to learn of the arrest. The two met around 2008 and bonded as artists, as well as over shared trauma, said Cannon, who advocated for legislative action after his daughter was abducted by his ex-wife.

Cannon said he had last spoken with Tillman by phone a couple of years ago and had not been aware of his recent social media posts.

“I never saw that side of him,” Cannon said. He added, “The Richard Tillman that I know — good people, good heart.”

The post office building in San Jose sustained serious damage. Marcus Lee, who works at a massage therapy business near the post office, was alarmed to see its charred exterior and a gaping hole in the front. “It’s scary, seeing something that has been here for this long look like this,” Lee said.

This article originally appeared in The New York Times.

By Bernard Mokam, Sonia A. Rao and Rick Rojas

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