Tucker defends arson decision
There was insufficient evidence to charge 19-year-old Timothy Lee Jacobs with this summer’s arson that caused $20 million in damage to Whitley Fuel and surrounding businesses in northeast Spokane, Prosecutor Steve Tucker said Friday.
Jacobs was arrested Monday and booked into jail by Capt. Kevin Smathers and Lt. Gregg McClatchey, arson investigators and commissioned law enforcement officers with the Spokane Fire Department.
They contend in court documents that the teenager illegally fired off bottle rockets that ignited the blaze July 23. A fireball and a towering smoke plume were visible throughout most of the city, and every on-duty city firefighter was called to battle the blaze.
The fire investigators submitted a “summary of facts,” outlining witness statements and other evidence pointing to Jacobs’ possible involvement in the fire at the two-story petroleum warehouse at 2733 N. Pittsburg St.
But after reviewing that information this week, two deputy prosecutors separately concluded more evidence was needed, Tucker said Friday.
In jailhouse interviews, Jacobs maintained his innocence, claiming he was at a northeast Spokane Laundromat at the time of the fire.
Jacobs walked out of the Spokane County Jail on Thursday evening, still professing his innocence to TV cameras.
“The Fire Department investigators determined they had probable cause, so they made the arrest,” Tucker said Friday. “When our prosecutors reviewed the file – and it went to two different prosecutors – they didn’t think we had enough to prove (the case) beyond a reasonable doubt.”
“I don’t fault the Fire Department at all and (its) investigators,” the prosecutor said. “They make the arrest then it’s up to us to decide whether we think we can prove something beyond a reasonable doubt.”
Because it’s an ongoing investigation, Tucker said, he “can’t make any comment on what we’re looking for or how the investigation will proceed.”
When Spokane Fire Chief Bobby Williams was asked Friday if his investigators arrested the right suspect, he said, “Absolutely, unequivocally.”
“The whole separate issue then becomes the prosecutors determining whether they believe there’s enough information there to hold a person and charge them,” Williams said. “I don’t know the answer why they didn’t” charge Jacobs. “You’ll have to ask the prosecutors.”
Williams added that investigators were told Jacobs was seen with two other people, but “nobody has been able to point us to who those other individuals were and, obviously, he didn’t give them up.”
There is a $10,000 reward for information leading to the arrest of those suspects.
“We think that there were other people involved, and we certainly welcome any information that anybody has about who those other two individuals might be,” Williams said.