SPOKANE VALLEY, Wash. — A 21-year-old man was arrested for arson in connection with a brush fire in Spokane Valley.
The fire broke out on the Appleway Trail near Steen Road S. and E. Sprague Avenue on Saturday, according to the Spokane County Sheriff’s Office (SCSO).
Spokane Valley deputies and firefighters responded to the brush fire around 4:45 a.m.
As a deputy arrived, he saw a suspicious white man in his early 20s. The man looked frantic as he waved and gestured toward the west, SCSO reported.
The deputy did not see anyone else in the area when he arrived.
Additional deputies contacted the man and detained him, while firefighters arrived and extinguished the flames.
Deputies determined the man had reported the fire. When asked what happened and who started it, the man said he saw a person start the fire and walk away, adding that he did not start it.
“He admitted to having a lighter and that he did not smoke but did with his friends sometimes,” the sheriff’s office stated.
Deputies forced to release man suspected of starting Spokane Valley brush fire
Deputies collected an aerosol can of heat starter fluid near the burnt area of the fire. However, without probable cause, deputies had to release the man from custody.
A few hours later, law enforcement was able to obtain video from a nearby business, which showed the suspect, believed to be the man they encountered, start the fire and walk away.
In the video, the man doesn’t appear to try to put out the fire. Instead, SCSO said he walked away, stopped, and appeared to take a photo before he reported it.
Deputies noted fire personnel had to cut a fence to access the fire, which caused around $2,000 in damage.
Man arrested, booked into jail
Law enforcement established probable cause to arrest the man on suspicion of arson in the first degree and malicious mischief in the second degree.
They located the man and arrested him around 2:30 p.m. He was booked into the Spokane County Jail.
MyNorthwest does not name suspects until they have been formally charged.
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