Security Guard Charged With Arson

Thu., July 22, 1999

From Staff

A private security guard has been charged with one count of first-degree arson in May fires at the state Department of Ecology headquarters in Lacey. The blaze caused $883,000 in damage.

Edward Cross, 48, turned himself in last week so he wouldn’t be arrested in front of his family, Lacey police said. He was charged Tuesday.

Cross’s wife, Christina, asserted his innocence.

But authorities said Cross failed a lie-detector test and police have evidence linking him to the crime.

Cross was on duty at the time of the fires. When firefighters arrived on the scene, he led them in the wrong direction although he knew where the blazes were, Nelson said.

The May 23 fires damaged records, computers and office furniture. One fire was set in cubicles used by staff in the agency’s hazardous-waste section and by people working for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. The others damaged Ecology’s southwest regional office.

It did not appear the fires were linked to any specific environmental enforcement action, police said.

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