Man Arrested For Arson After Attempting To Burn Down Cle Elum Home, Police Say

A Yakima man is in jail after police say he tried to burn down a Kittitas County home over the weekend.

The Ellensburg Daily Record says deputies with the Kittitas County Sheriff's Office responded to a residence in South Cle Elum last Friday, April 10, after the homeowner called 9-1-1 to report that a man who'd come to the home to make repairs to a vehicle had tried to set his house on fire.

Court documents indicate the homeowner smelled smoke while inside the residence and went outside to find flames emanating from a propane tank that had been placed underneath the porch of his residence.

Get our free mobile app

The homeowner reportedly used a garden hose to put out the fire, which he later told police had been started by 35-year-old Ricardo Galvin, Jr., the man who'd been dropped off at his residence to repair a vehicle shortly before he discovered the fire.

After putting out the flames, the homeowner reportedly put a gun to Galvin's head in order to force him to leave the property.

Investigators later discovered a shoelace had been placed in the fuel filler pipe of the homeowner's truck, along with a burned piece of cardboard that was found near the propane tank.

The homeowner also later reported that the gas cap to a snowmobile at the property had been removed.

Detectives say when they found Galvin, he was wearing a shirt that displayed evidence of having been burned with numerous holes that also appeared to be caused by fire damage.

Galvin allegedly refused to tell detectives anything besides the undisputed fact that he had been at the residence to make repairs to a vehicle there.

Galvin was arrested and booked into the Kittitas County Jail on charges of first-degree arson.

At his initial appearance in Kittitas County Superior Court on Monday, Galvin's bail was set at $500,000.