LYNNWOOD — An ex-employee of a Lynnwood car dealership allegedly set fire to his former employer’s buildings — one of them on the morning of a grand opening — while a security guard and janitors were working inside, according to police reports filed in court.
The Bellevue man, 46, smelled strongly of gasoline when police caught up to him in a parking lot around 2:30 a.m. Saturday. Singed hair was shedding from his arms, face and the right side of his head, court papers say. An open can of Coors Light sat in the center of the Chevy Equinox he’d been driving. The dark SUV bore license plates from his new employer, another dealership based in Everett.
Minutes earlier, a security guard had seen a black Chevy SUV driving outside the new Northwest Motorsport on Highway 99. He noticed the dealer plates. The SUV parked at a nearby QFC. The guard left to check on another wing of the dealership that is two blocks south. He returned to a fire alarm ringing in the north wing. He saw flames and called 911.
Around the same time, at least one janitor heard bangs outside the southern location of Northwest Motorsport. The cleaning crew smelled smoke, heard the sirens and realized a corner of the building was burning. They escaped without injury.
Damage to both buildings ended up being minor, according to police. A large gas can was on the ground nearby, missing its spout. The fire at the southern building started on the outer trim, police wrote. Another abandoned gas can had been dropped on the ground. This one had melted.
At least two witnesses reported seeing the suspected arsonist driving away from the area in a black SUV, according to police reports. One witness followed the Chevy south on the highway. The suspect turned west onto 188th Street SW and pulled over 1½ miles from the fires, near a window-making business. The witness pointed it out to police.
The driver was arrested for investigation of two counts of first-degree arson. On a floorboard, police allegedly saw two gas can spouts and a gas cap. The man had bloodshot eyes and trouble balancing, according to the reports. An officer checked the man’s pockets and pulled out a wallet and a cigarette lighter.
The man denied starting the fires. Officers asked if he knew that people were inside of the buildings. He answered that he didn’t know, court papers say. He reportedly told an officer he “would never try to hurt people.”
Police learned the man used to work for Northwest Motorsport. He was “let go” in December, according to the reports. A grand opening for the new location was set for Saturday.
Officers asked the suspect who owned the Chevy. He replied that it belonged to another auto dealership, where he claimed he had been a manager. The officer asked if he’d been fired, since he was talking in the past tense. He reportedly said that he probably would be, because of this incident. He did not show up to work Monday. Instead, a judge set his bail at $250,000.
Caleb Hutton: 425-339-3454; chutton@heraldnet.com. Twitter: @snocaleb.
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