A Winlock man will spend five months in prison, with credit for 57 days already served, for setting fire to his RV in February.
Robert M. Bruneau, 52, pleaded guilty to one count of first-degree reckless burning on Wednesday and was sentenced in Lewis County Superior Court that same day.
“I recklessly burned my own RV by intentionally setting fire to it,” Bruneau wrote in his guilty plea.
He was initially charged with second-degree arson after he set fire to his motorhome in the 400 block of Southwest Canyon Loop on Feb. 1.
Bruneau was the first person to report the fire and reportedly told law enforcement he started the fire with gasoline “in an effort to be arrested.”
When he was further questioned by law enforcement, Bruneau reportedly said “he had started the fire with gasoline because he had not eaten in five days,” according to court documents.
A two-person crew with Lewis County Fire District 15 was able to enter the motorhome and successfully extinguish the fire before it spread to the main structure on the property. No one was inside the motorhome when the fire crew arrived and no injuries were reported.
Judge James Lawler ordered the competency evaluation on Feb. 3 after Bruneau repeatedly refused to appear virtually in court for his preliminary hearing and jail staff expressed concerns about Bruneau’s competency.
The evaluation ultimately found Bruneau was competent enough to proceed with the case. He pleaded not guilty to second-degree arson on Feb. 24 and trial was scheduled for April 18.
