A marital dispute allegedly prompted a man to start a brush fire near a Walmart in Lacey on Aug. 6.
The fire damaged about 1,500 to 2,000 square feet of brush next to the northbound I-5 at Marvin Road Northeast, according to a trooper's report.
The incident caused law enforcement and firefighters to close the ramp at Marvin Road for a about three hours that Friday, per a tweet from Trooper Robert Reyer.
Troopers arrested the 40-year-old man at a nearby Walmart Supercenter after witnesses identified him, according to the report. He attended his preliminary appearance in Thurston County Superior Court on Wednesday after refusing to appear the prior two days.
Thurston County Court Commissioner Nathan Kortokrax set the man's bail at $15,000, citing concerns he may fail to reappear in court as required. He is currently being held in the Thurston County jail.
An affidavit of probable cause included the report that describes the incident from the perspective of law enforcement.
At 4:25 p.m. Aug. 6, the trooper who wrote the report responded to the brush fire near I-5 and Marvin Road. Once there, the trooper witnessed multiple fire units and Walmart employees trying to contain the blaze, per the report.
Witness statements led law enforcement to the man and he was detained in a patrol vehicle, according to the report. A trooper asked him what happened, and he reportedly said he burned a religious notecard and threw it over a fence after making sure the fire was out, per the report.
The trooper noted the man had a strong odor of cigarette smoke and decided to arrest him on suspicion of reckless burning. The trooper then removed $40 cash and a black lighter from the man, according to the report.
During his arrest, the report alleges the man directed aggressive and vulgar comments toward the trooper and other law enforcement. At one point, he somehow managed to light a cigarette while still in handcuffs, per the report.
This prompted the trooper to remove the man to clean the back of the vehicle, according to the report. As the trooper did this, the report says three cigarettes were uncovered that had not been confiscated before.
Video footage of the incident supplied by Walmart employees allegedly showed the man roaming the location of the fire, per the report.
Witnesses also placed the man at the location of the fire and said he had caused "numerous scenes" inside the Walmart earlier, according to the report. This resulted in him later being banned from all Walmart locations, the report says.
A Department of Natural Resources unit investigated the fire. During the DNR investigation, the man allegedly stated he was so angry with his wife inside Walmart that he started a fire outside the store.
As a result, law enforcement booked the man into Thurston County jail on suspicion second-degree arson rather than reckless burning.
