Utah man gets jail time for fires set along Hwy. 97
A Deschutes County judge sentenced a 38-year-old Utah man to 70 days in jail and three years probation Friday for setting two fires among at least four found burning south of Bend to south of La Pine within a span of a few hours last August.
In a plea petition filed Monday, Christopher Glen Wilson, 38, admitted he “intentionally damaged … property in two separate locations by starting two fires,” and that “my actions recklessly created a substantial risk of serious physical injury to another person.”
Wilson, of Salt Lake City, pleaded guilty to two counts of first-degree arson and one count of recklessly endangering another person. Under the plea deal, a third first-degree arson charge was dismissed.
The fires broke out Aug. 29 of last year between the area of Lava River Cave and milepost 180 south of La Pine, in Klamath County. Three were stopped at least than two acres, but the fourth, the McKay Fire near La Pine, grew to more than 1,200 acres before being stopped.
Wilson was stopped by Oregon State Police troopers a few days later as he drove into Oregon from Idaho on Interstate 84 at the wheel of a stolen car that authorities said he’d failed to return to a rental agency. He was booked into the Malheur County Jail on car theft charges and later moved to Bend after being convicted of car theft.
Circuit Judge Wells Ashby also ordered Wilson to obtain a mental health evaluation and complete any recommended treatment, and to consume no alcohol, marijuana or drugs without a valid prescription.
