Updated
By Sharyn L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter
CHEHALIS – The man arrested for breaking into a real estate business, stealing a computer tower and setting a fire before leaving just got out of jail two months ago.
Darren G. Waggoner, 33, was charged yesterday in Lewis County Superior Court with second-degree arson and second-degree burglary for the Sunday night incident that damaged the interior of the RE/Max office on Johnson Road near Caveness Drive.
Waggoner lives just up the road in the trailer court off Harrison Avenue.
Centralia Police Department detective Sgt. Pat Fitzgerald said they don’t know why the computer component was taken or why the fire was set.
“It was a crime of opportunity, as far as we could tell,” Fitzgerald said.
Firefighters called about 11 p.m. on Sunday to the building extinguished the flames quickly, and concluded the fire was started in some paper in a corner, and spread from there, according to authorities.
An arriving police officer spoke with Waggoner, who was standing across the street watching the fire, charging documents state. Police Sgt. Stacy Denham noted Waggoner smelled of intoxicants.
When detectives subsequently looked over security video, they saw a person wearing clothing similar to what Waggoner had been wearing that night, walk past Les Schwab carrying a computer tower, according to charging documents.
The computer tower – the case that houses the hard drive of a desktop computer – was found in some bushes about halfway between RE/Max and Waggoner’s residence, Fitzgerald said. A cell phone was found near it, but they don’t know yet who that belongs to, he said.
The fire department says damage at the one-story wood framed building is estimated at $10,000.
Waggoner went before a judge yesterday afternoon in Lewis County Superior Court. The judge granted prosecutors request he be held on $100,000 bail.
Chief Criminal Deputy Prosecutor Brad Meagher noted Waggoner’s previous criminal convictions; second-degree burglary and trafficking in stolen property in 2001, forgery in 2002, second-degree theft and taking a motor vehicle without permission in 2007, and then felony shoplifting near the end of last year.
Waggoner was sentenced to 90 days in the Lewis County Jail after an incident at nearby Rite Aid in November, where he headed out the back emergency exit with merchandise including two notebook computers, according to authorities.
His arraignment is scheduled for tomorrow. He is represented by Centralia lawyer David Arcuri.
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For background, read “News brief: Local resident arrested for RE/Max office arson fire,” from Tuesday March 31, 2015, here
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