Shabby soap opera: Man charged with stalking after attempted arson frame-up

An apparent frame-up scheme backfired on a 53-year-old Tacoma man last week. Instead of winning the heart of a woman who never wanted to be his girlfriend, the man found himself charged with two counts of criminal impersonation, along with arson and stalking.

Charging papers filed Sept. 21 in Pierce County Superior Court unravel the odd tale, which started Aug. 8 with a suspicious phone call to Tacoma police.

The man on the phone reported an upcoming arson. An officer called the man back. The man said he’d been offered $1,000 to “torch some cars” at an address on South Melrose Street in Tacoma.

The man said the offer came from a regular customer at a local fast-food restaurant, and gave the alleged customer’s first name.

On Aug. 11, Tacoma firefighters responded to a report of a vehicle fire near the address given to police a few days earlier. Firefighters, unaware of the earlier police report, decided it was an electrical fire and didn’t bother to alert police.

On Aug. 17, the man who warned police called them again. He repeated the story of the offered fee for arson, with slight variations, again giving the first name of the man who was supposedly willing to pay.

That same day, police responded to a reported arson attempt near South Melrose Street. The homeowner reported seeing a man in a pickup truck throw something toward a car parked at the address. The something turned out to be a red plastic cup stuffed with a gasoline-soaked rag.

An officer responding to the scene noticed the vehicle nearby that had been burned in the earlier incident. By chance the same officer had taken the call earlier in the day about the alleged arson-for-pay scheme. The officer made a mental note.

One of the men who lived at the address was a registered sex offender, a 48-year-old man with a conviction that dated to 1985. His girlfriend, 31, was staying with him.

On Sept. 5, police responded to a reported third arson at the address. This time the target was the sex offender’s truck. The offender said he believed he was being targeted because of his past.

Two days later, police responded to another call at the address. The homeowner reported seeing a man driving by with a flaming canister in his hand. The homeowner had tried to follow the driver, who sped away too quickly to be caught.

Lakewood police stopped the fleeing driver a little later that night. Lakewood officers, aware of the earlier report and chase, asked if the man had been at the address in Tacoma. He denied it.

Officers and a police detective compared notes, connected dots, realized the separate incidents were linked, and started an investigation. Over the next two weeks, the detective gathered the loose ends, checked the phone records from earlier calls to police, and spoke to the homeowner, the sex offender and the woman. A slow history emerged.

The woman said she’d moved recently from Colorado to Washington. In Colorado, she met a homeless man who wanted to date her, she said. The woman wasn’t interested, but the man persisted. Eventually, the woman filed for a no-contact order and left the state.

In August, the woman explained, the man had called her, said he was in Washington and wanted to see her. He pleaded that he didn’t know anyone in town.

The woman and her boyfriend agreed to meet the man in Seattle. After that, she said, the man kept calling. He showed up where she worked. He said the new boyfriend was a bad influence.

After one of the arson incidents, the woman said, she had called the man and yelled at him.

The shabby soap opera ended on Sept. 19, with a 911 call and an abrupt hangup near the address, shortly before midnight. Tacoma firefighters responded; the homeowner said he hadn’t called. Firefighters noticed a man standing nearby, hiding by a utility pole with a rope around his neck. The man didn’t answer when firefighters called to him; they called police, who approached the man. He’d tried to hang himself and failed, charging papers state.

By this time, police had gathered enough information to identify the man as the rejected 53-year-old paramour from Colorado. He matched the description given by the homeowner who’d chased him weeks earlier. Phone records linked him to the earlier calls about arson for pay — a failed attempt to frame the boyfriend of the woman he still sought.

The man was arraigned Sept. 21, and entered a plea of not guilty. Bail was set at $100,000. His trial is set for Nov. 21.

This story was originally published September 26, 2015 at 3:15 PM with the headline "Shabby soap opera: Man charged with stalking after attempted arson frame-up."