2:56 PM: We’re outside the King County Jail downtown, where Judge Anne Harper set $300,000 bail a short time ago for the 22-year-old man arrested in connection with recent West Seattle arsons (WSB was first to report the arrest this morning) – twice what the King County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office had requested. The suspect declined the chance to appear at the hearing, at which Judge Harper found probable cause to keep him in jail while prosecutors decide on what could be multiple counts of second-degree arson. Prosecutors told the judge that the suspect has no known criminal history, as reported here earlier. He is said to have told police he set fires because he wanted to get help; hearing that, Judge Harper said, left her more concerned that he would be a danger to the community if released without getting that help. His family has just left the courthouse, declining to comment to waiting reporters. We’re awaiting a copy of the probable-cause documents and will add to this story when we get them.
3:25 PM: Just received the documents. They say he has confessed to setting four fires – the two on October 12th in High Point, at the SW Morgan eastbound bus stop between 34th and 35th, and around the corner in a front-yard waste bin in the 6500 block of 34th SW – steps from his residence – as well as the two on October 31st in The Junction.
The documents begin by listing eight fires that police have investigated – six fires in High Point and Morgan between October 12th and October 21st, then the two set in The Junction early Halloween morning, including the one beneath the Senior Center of West Seattle, where surveillance video, the documents say, shows the fire being set at 2:02 am, and showing the fire-setter leaving, then returning a moment later “to see if the fire is going.”
Less than 20 minutes later, a witness saw someone leaving the alley behind the Easy Street Records building, and then saw a dumpster on fire; two citizens pushed it away from the building’s wall.
Surveillance video from The Junction 7-11 about two blocks south shows someone in clothing similar to that worn by the person seen at those arson scenes – a red hoodie with a “dark body or vest over it” – making a purchase around 2:30 am. The document jumps ahead to this past Wednesday, when officers saw someone matching the arsonist’s description walking in The Junction, but weren’t able to make contact.
Then police got a tip from someone who knows the suspect and had seen the surveillance video from the bus-stop fire. The tipster met with police yesterday and identified the suspect. Last night, as reported earlier, police served a warrant on his home in the 6500 block of 34th SW, where the documents say they recovered clothing matching what was worn by the person seen on video in the Junction arsons. Shortly thereafter, they found and arrested him at Shadowland in The Junction (the documents don’t say how they knew he was there) and took him downtown for questioning. In that questioning, police say he admitted to setting the October 12th and 31st fires but would not admit to any others. And, as noted earlier, he said he did it because he needed help. He is due back in court next Tuesday (November 10th), by which time prosecutors should decide on charges.
| 14 COMMENTS