Neighborhood Fight Turns High-Octane Man Arrested After Gasoline Poured Around Nearby Spokane Valley House

A Spokane Valley man accused of pouring gasoline around another man’s house was charged Thursday with attempted first-degree arson.

Richard A. Griffith, 46, 2511 N. Dick, was ordered held in jail on $50,000 bail by acting District Court Commissioner Brad Chinn.

Griffith soaked the lawn outside Steven Pangburn’s nearby house on North Ella Road late Wednesday after the two argued, sheriff’s deputy Tom Edelbrock wrote in an affidavit of probable cause filed in the case.

Pangburn and his family were inside at the time.

Authorities didn’t say if Griffith tried to ignite the gasoline.

The incident began after the men argued over Pangburn’s 12-year-old daughter, Edelbrock wrote.

Pangburn claimed Griffith made “improper advances” on his daughter, according to the affidavit.

On Wednesday night, Griffith called the girl an obscene name, and Pangburn ran him off his land, Edelbrock wrote.

Griffith returned later with a gas can and dumped the fuel all around Pangburn’s house, pouring extra gasoline under the girl’s window, the affidavit states.

The deputy said he saw and smelled “excessive amounts of gas” outside Pangburn’s home when he arrived to investigate the matter.

Edelbrock said Griffith was “extremely volatile” when he arrested him.

, DataTimes