Police question man seen walking away from last month’s South Hill fires
A 37-year-old man convicted of lighting fires last year in downtown Spokane and at a Spokane pet grooming business was seen walking away from the South Hill bluff wildfires that burned last month, according to court documents.
Spokane police have not made any arrests and continue to investigate, according to police spokesman Daniel Strassenberg.
Several people reported multiple fires at about 9:45 p.m. on May 25 near High Drive and Bernard Street along the South Hill bluff, according to search warrant documents regarding the 37-year-old. About 15 minutes later, people reported hearing an explosion in the area.
The fires appeared to have been started deliberately at Bernard Street and High Drive and continued east about one block to Manito Boulevard, court records show. Firefighters extinguished the fires, and no homes were burned.
About 30 minutes after the fires were reported, a nearby resident reported a “strange male” with short pink hair, a tank top and holding a duffle bag walking away from the fires east on 37th Avenue, according to documents. The resident reported the man was talking to himself and moving “erratically.”
Officers found the man near 37th Avenue and Grand Boulevard matching the description of the resident’s report. Officers detained the 37-year-old in handcuffs. Officers learned he had a warrant for third-degree malicious mischief. Police booked him into jail on the warrant and found a lighter and marijuana in his pocket while searching him, according to documents.
A High Drive resident also noticed a man with a blue tank top walking away from the fires. Video surveillance from the resident showed the 37-year-old walking east on High Drive about 13 minutes following the first 911 call for the fires.
Detectives interviewed the man a few days later after he had been released from jail, according to documents. Police said the man was dealing with a “mental health crisis” as the man asked if police were going to kill him or “traffic” him.
The man told detectives that on the night of the fires he was in the area of 29th Avenue and Southeast Boulevard trying to meet up for sex with someone he connected with over dating site sniffies.com, documents say. The man said he didn’t meet up with the person, his phone died and he got lost as he walked on the South Hill.
He told police he smoked marijuana and found methamphetamines “he may have smoked.” He denied being on High Drive and setting fires, documents say.
He did not have an explanation when police confronted him about being on video at High Drive just east of the fires, but said he heard a loud explosion which he believed was a firework. The man said he didn’t know about the fires until he was contacted by officers and questioned about the fires, according to documents. Police allowed the man to leave after they interviewed him.
The man pleaded guilty in December to two counts of first-degree reckless burning last year for starting a downtown Spokane fire that damaged a fence and lighting on fire a dog grooming business. That business sustained extensive external damage to the building, according to documents. He was then sentenced to two months in jail.
Detectives are investigating 11 counts of second-degree arson for the 11 fires last month along the hiking trail on the steep wooded High Drive bluff.