The 31-year-old man charged for burning down a vacant restaurant building on Harrison Avenue in Centralia last March was sentenced Wednesday to three to six months in a court-imposed residential drug offender sentencing alternative (DOSA) inpatient program.
Christopher Jackson Jr. pleaded guilty to three felony charges — one count each of second degree burglary, malicious prosecution and first-degree reckless burning — on May 1, according to court documents.
Jackson was convicted for breaking into the building on Sunday, March 5, lighting a Sterno can on fire and then accidentally knocking it over, spilling the flaming fluid and starting the fire that destroyed the building.
The Lewis County 911 Communications Center dispatched fire and law personnel to the fire shortly after 7 a.m. on March 5.
Riverside Fire Authority and multiple mutual aid crews from nearby agencies, including Lewis County Fire District 6 and the West Thurston Fire Authority, successfully extinguished the fire and prevented it from spreading to nearby structures.
The building itself was a total loss. The structure was severely unstable and at risk for collapse when firefighters extinguished the bulk of the fire, prompting Tyler Rentals out of Chehalis and staff from Centralia Public Works to use an excavator to knock down the remaining structure.
Jackson, who told law enforcement he tried to put the blaze out with his hands, was the only one injured in the fire.
While no one was inside the building when firefighters arrived, the structure has been frequently broken into and used by people experiencing homelessness, according to the Centralia Police Department.
When questioned by officers, Jackson attempted to blame another man for starting the fire, but eventually admitted to starting the fire himself, according to court documents.
Jackson reportedly had a cigarette lighter on his person, 30 fentanyl pills and paraphernalia used to inhale controlled substances on his person when he was arrested, according to court documents.
While the Lewis County Prosecutor’s Office recommended a 12-month jail sentence for Jackson, Judge J. Andrew Toynbee granted the defense’s request for a residential DOSA program on Wednesday.
As part of that DOSA, Jackson will spend three to six months in an inpatient treatment facility, followed by 24 months of community custody.
His expected completion date as of Wednesday is March 20, 2025, according to court documents.
A review hearing is scheduled for Sept. 21, 2023.
The fire occurred at the hexagon-shaped building where Papa Pete’s was most recently located. It originally opened in January 1983 as the 26th restaurant in the Shari’s chain, according to previous Chronicle reporting. Shari’s closed in 2007, but the building remained.
Three years later, in June 2010, the Castle Rock-based chain Papa Pete’s Pizza announced it would open a new location in the hexagon-shaped building on Harrison Avenue.
The pizza chain operated on Harrison Avenue through February 2022 before permanently closing its Centralia location.
The City of Centralia is currently waiting for the property owner to clear debris at the property.
According to Lewis County Parcels, the property is owned by Vahan Dinihanian of 933 Harrison Avenue Centralia LLC. About $16,500 is owed in taxes on the property.
