San Francisco Police Investigating Arson at “Mrs. Doubtfire” Home
By Lisa Fernandez and Bob Redell ••
Someone set two small fires at the “Mrs. Doubtfire” home in San Francisco, made famous by the film starring Robin Williams, and police are investigating a former patient of the homeowner as a possible suspect. Stephanie Chuang reports.
Someone set two small fires at the "Mrs. Doubtfire" home in San Francisco, made famous by the film starring Robin Williams, and police are investigating a former patient of the homeowner as a possible suspect.
Police, who were staked out at the home in the ritzy Pacific Heights neighborhood on Tuesday morning, were investigating whether the home was targeted because of what current owner Dr. Douglas K. Ousterhout, a plastic surgeon who works on transgender patients, does for a living. Ousterhout is considered among the nation's top craniofacial surgeons, and in a past interview with NBC Bay Area said he turns "boys' faces into girls' faces."
Henry Jerkins
The door of the "Mrs. Doubtfire" house on Steiner Street was set ablaze by an arsonist. Jan. 5, 2015
San Francisco Police Spokesman Albie Esparza told NBC Bay Area on Tuesday that Ousterhout told investigators a former patient of his could be behind the fires, making that person a likely suspect. Esparza would not go into further detail.
Still, he said police weren't taking any chances, and they staked a couple of patrol cars outside the home on Steiner Street.
"Obviously this was an intentional act," Esparza said. "We don't want to see the suspect try to come back and finish the job."
The fires, which police and firefighters suspect was set by an arsonist, scorched a doormat and the side of the garage at 2640 Steiner Street. They were set about 8 p.m. Ousterhout, who declined to be interviewed, was able to stamp the porch fire out himself.
Ousterhout's home became an important memorial site in the wake of Williams' death, as mourners came for days to leave flowers and notes to the late comedian who committed suicide on Aug. 14.
In August, Ousterhout told NBC Bay Area he wanted to buy the home shortly after it appeared in the 1993 movie, describing it as "convenient" to his work in the Castro, a "nice bachelor pad," albeit "small."
AP
Flowers are placed in memory of actor/comedian Robin Williams on his Walk of Fame star in the Hollywood district of Los Angeles, Monday, Aug. 11, 2014. Williams, a brilliant shapeshifter who could channel his frenetic energy into delightful comic characters like "Mrs. Doubtfire" or harness it into richly nuanced work like his Oscar-winning turn in "Good Will Hunting," died Monday in an apparent suicide. He was 63. Williams was pronounced dead at his San Francisco Bay Area home Monday, according to the sheriff's office in Marin County, north of San Francisco. (AP Photo/Kevork Djansezian)
AP
Flowers are placed in memory of actor/comedian Robin Williams on his Walk of Fame star in the Hollywood district of Los Angeles, Monday, Aug. 11, 2014. Williams, a brilliant shapeshifter who could channel his frenetic energy into delightful comic characters like "Mrs. Doubtfire" or harness it into richly nuanced work like his Oscar-winning turn in "Good Will Hunting," died Monday in an apparent suicide. He was 63. Williams was pronounced dead at his San Francisco Bay Area home Monday, according to the sheriff's office in Marin County, north of San Francisco.
KNBC-TV
Robin Williams' Star on the Walk of Fame was flooded with flowers and remembrances to the Oscar-winning actor and comedian who died on Monday, August 11, 2014 at the age of 63.
KNBC-TV
Robin Williams Star on the Walk of Fame was flooded with flowers and remembrances to the Oscar-winning actor and comedian who died on Monday, August 11, 2014 at the age of 63.
KNBC-TV
Hand-written notes and memorabilia were placed alongside flowers, candles and photographs of the comedy star.
AP
A man takes a photo of a the marquee of the Laugh Factory with a message in memory of actor Robin Williams displayed, in the Hollywood district of Los Angeles Monday, Aug. 11, 2014.
KNBC-TV
A memorial to the late comic legend Robin Williams was posted on the marquee of Los Angeles comedy venue, the Laugh Factory after the actor died on Monday, August 11, 2014.
KNBC-TV
Robin Williams Star on the Walk of Fame was flooded with flowers and remembrances to the Oscar-winning actor and comedian who died on Monday, August 11, 2014 at the age of 63.
Getty Images
Passersby take in the makeshift memorial for Robin Williams on August 11, 2014 in Boulder, Colorado. The exterior of the house was used in the opening credits for "Mork & Mindy," the comedy based in Boulder that catapulted Williams' career.
Getty Images
Heather Devlin of Falls Church, Va. places flowers at a makeshift memorial for Robin Williams on August 11, 2014 in Boulder, Colorado. The exterior of the house was used in the opening credits for "Mork & Mindy," the comedy based in Boulder that catapulted Williams' career.
Getty Images
Flowers and pictures that are part of a growing memorial sit on the steps in front of the home where actor and comedian Robin Williams filmed the movie Mrs. Doubtfire on August 12, 2014 in San Francisco, California.
Getty Images
People gather near a makeshift memorial for Robin Williams in front of Carolines on Broadway comedy club on August 12, 2014 in New York City. Williams died after hanging himslef on August 11, 2014 at his home in Tiburon, California.
Getty Images
People gather near a makeshift memorial for Robin Williams in front of Carolines on Broadway comedy club on August 12, 2014 in New York City. Williams died after hanging himslef on August 11, 2014 at his home in Tiburon, California.
AP
Flowers, notes, and a Mork & Mindy commemorative lunchbox are among the things left at a makeshift memorial in Boulder, Colo., Tuesday Aug. 12, 2014, outside the home where the 80s TV series Mork & Mindy, starring the late Robin Williams, was set.
AP
Brandon Scales places flowers on the star of actor-comedian Robin Williams at a makeshift memorial along the Hollywood Walk of Fame in Los Angeles on Tuesday, Aug. 12, 2014.
AP
A photo of the late actor Robin Williams playing Mork from Ork hangs with flowers and notes left by people paying their respects, at a makeshift memorial in Boulder, Colo., Tuesday Aug. 12, 2014, outside the home where the 80s TV series Mork & Mindy, starring Williams, was set. The Academy Award winner and comic supernova whose explosions of pop culture riffs and impressions dazzled audiences for decades and made him a gleamy-eyed laureate for the Information Age.
The home, however, is still a big draw for tourists. Jason and Kerri Bilson of Australia came by Tuesday just for that reason. They were going to visit the house anyway, but were more intrigued when they heard about the arson.
"We were very curious to see what was going on, " Bilson said.
