Chelan Hills Fire Suspect Enters Plea And Alleged Accomplice Arrested
The teen accused of starting the deadly Chelan Hills Fire in McNeil Canyon made a court appearance Thursday in Douglas County Superior Court to answer charges of manslaughter, arson, and assault.
The Douglas County Sheriff's Office also announced that the U.S. Marshals Service arrested Mark R. Okhrimchik, a 19-year-old University Place, WA resident, in connection to the incident, and he has been booked into the Chelan County Regional Justice Center on the identical charges.
In court Thursday, 18-year-old Michael Yakimov from Kent, WA, pleaded not guilty to the nine charges he faces, including 1st-degree counts of manslaughter, arson, and malicious mischief and six counts of third-degree assault.
Yakimov and four others, including Okrimchik, are accused of starting the Chelan Hills fire the night of July 4th that killed 69-year-old Robert Lister of Orondo and destroyed about 20 homes and 100 outbuildings in McNeil Canyon.
The suspects were in two vehicles that were shown on video shooting fireworks on Highway 97 that ignited the 10,000-acre fire. Yakimov was seen firing a gattling-gun-type device that was capable of firing hundreds of Roman candles per minute.
Yakimov was represented at the Thursday hearing by a public defender who will soon be replaced by private counsel. The teen remains in custody at the Chelan County Regional Justice Center on $1 million bail.
The Douglas County Sheriff's Office is still seeking three other individuals.
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