Man accused of setting person on fire downtown arrested after three weeks as victim remains in critical condition
Spokane police have arrested a man suspected of dousing another man with gasoline last month in downtown Spokane and setting him on fire.
The victim, 39-year-old David Karn, remains in critical condition at Harborview Medical Center in Seattle, where specialists were treating burns that covered two-thirds of his body.
But before Karn was taken by ambulance to a local hospital and then airlifted for medical treatment on Sept. 17, he was able to tell police what happened to him.
Karn said he was on one of the sidewalks under the Browne Street viaduct, located south of Sprague Avenue, when a man he knows as “Dupree” walked up to him, poured gasoline or some type of flammable liquid on him, and then lit him on fire. Karn ran, flagged down an officer and provided a statement.
Investigators collected a lighter, a torch made of aluminum pipe and a rag, a plastic milk bottle with holes on the top that contained an accelerant, and burnt bedding, court records show. Spokane firefighters also noticed clothing on fire at the viaduct.
Video surveillance from the area showed a man running north from the viaduct as people attended to Karn.
Police say the man seen running away is Dupree L. Meadows, 57. After three weeks of investigation, police arrested Dupree on Sunday in East Central Spokane. Investigators have not disclosed a motive.
Karn was in critical condition Tuesday at the hospital’s intensive care unit, according to Susan Gregg, media relations director at University of Washington Medicine, which manages the hospital.
On Friday, a Seattle police detective showed Karn, who is receiving “around the clock care,” a photo montage of six people, and Karn picked a photo of Meadows as the suspect, according to court documents. Karn said he has known Meadows for 10 years.
On Sunday afternoon, officers driving on Third Avenue near Myrtle Street noticed a man walking along the road and recognized him as Meadows. Officers detained him near Third and Florida Street and jailed him on suspicion of first-degree arson and first-degree assault charges.
“Working with very limited information, detectives worked tirelessly to identify Dupree,” Spokane police said in a news release. “Due to the severity of his injuries, the victim could not provide much information to investigators. With assistance from the Seattle Police Department, enough information was gathered to confirm Dupree’s involvement in the incident. Once identified, SPD patrol officers began a search for him, resulting in his arrest in the area of Third and Florida on Sunday.”
Meadows remained in the Spokane County Jail on Tuesday night. A judge set his bail at $100,000.
Meadows also has outstanding charges of possession of a stolen vehicle and reckless driving.
Karn is not the first man set on fire in Spokane.
Nearly 20 years ago, Matthew B. Trammell killed a homeless amputee by setting him on fire as he slept next to his wheelchair in downtown Spokane, according to previous Spokesman-Review reporting. A judge sentenced Trammell in 2007 to more than 18 years in prison after he pleaded guilty to second-degree murder in connection with the 2006 death of 50-year-old Douglas Dawson.
Prosecutors said Trammell and Sean P. Knold robbed a woman downtown before Trammell lit Dawson on fire. Dawson died three days later at Harborview .