EVERETT — A Lynnwood man faces an October trial date after being charged with attempting to set a stranger’s apartment on fire.
Corey A. Thomas, 25, remains in the Snohomish County Jail on $250,000 bail.
Prosecutors allege that Thomas was spotted outside the Lynnwood home around 1:30 a.m. Aug. 11. He’s accused of pouring gasoline outside the sliding door on the back porch. A couple and their young child were inside.
When the husband in the apartment yelled at the man to go away, the defendant allegedly replied: “Reporting for duty.”
The husband called 911 and told his wife to take their baby into a back room.
Police arrived minutes later at the apartment complex along 168th Street SW. They arrested the suspect, who allegedly had a book of matches in his hand. Officers found a single match on the ground that appeared to be identical to those in the matchbook.
They found a nearly empty gas can nearby.
The husband’s brother, who lives in a neighboring apartment, told police he saw the suspect throw a fire extinguisher at the window or sliding door. He said he heard a man believed to be the defendant say he has the right to kill somebody and for someone to close their doors and that they want a female dead, according to court papers. The brother did not know who “they” were, court papers said.
Trial is set for Oct. 14.
In seeking the $250,000 bail, Snohomish County deputy prosecutor Elise Deschenes wrote: “Had the victims not been woken up, the defendant would have started their home on fire, placing them and their baby in serious danger, as well as the rest of the occupants of other apartments.”
Thomas has no felony history. In 2015, he was convicted of two drug-related misdemeanors in Snohomish County, according to court records.
Eric Stevick: 425-339-3446; stevick@heraldnet.com.
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