BLAINE, Wash. — Whatcom County Sheriff’s Office deputies arrested a man in Whatcom County earlier this week and booked him into Whatcom County Jail charged with 1st degree arson along with other charges.
On June 20th, a WCSO deputy was dispatched about 9:30pm to investigate an arson crime in the 6900 block of Holeman Avenue in Birch Bay. The fire had already been extinguished by people at the scene.
The deputy arrived to find a pile of burned debris on a driveway with water streaming from it.
People inside the residence reported having seen something burning outside. When they stepped outside to investigate, they found debris burning at a wall of the residence, pulled it away and doused it with water.
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Click for more informationThey told the deputy they saw a man walking away with a lighter in his hand. They attempted to detain the man which resulted in a scuffle during which time the man dropped the lighter and his cellphone.
The owner of the residence said she recognized the man.
Deputies approached a nearby RV where the man was thought to be. He refused to come out for about 3 hours until a search warrant was granted, and special weapons and tactics (SWAT) were called out. He was arrested without incident.
The man, identified as Landon Lee Larson, age 32, was booked into Whatcom County Jail and charged with suspicion of 1st degree arson and obstructing law enforcement. He was also arrested on suspicion of violating a protection order.
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Larson made a preliminary appearance in Whatcom County Superior Court on June 21st when bail was set at $1,000,000. He is scheduled to be arraigned on July 8th.
Larson was awaiting trial on a felony charge of theft of a motor vehicle at the time of his arrest.
Larson has prior felony convictions in 2020 on 2 counts of 1st degree reckless burning. Those charges were the result of 2 incidents in 2019 where accelerants were used to attempt to burn down a residence under construction less than a half-mile from the recent arson incident.
He seems nice