A 19-year-old man was sentenced Monday to one year in jail for starting two restroom fires in the Battle Ground Community Library.
In an agreement with prosecutors, Luke M. Love of Battle Ground pleaded guilty to reckless burning and second-degree attempted arson. In exchange, the Clark County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office dismissed two counts of first-degree arson.
Love has multiple developmental delays and mental health issues, and his parents are his guardians by a court order, said Love’s attorney, Susan Stauffer.
“It’s just a very difficult situation, given the level of functioning,” Stauffer said.
Collier also sentenced Love to two years of probation and restitution, which has not yet been determined.
Love has been in the Clark County Jail in lieu of $100,000 bail since his arrest in January. He has 175 days of credit for the time he’s already served in jail. That will be subtracted from his one-year jail sentence. He’s also prohibited from going to the Battle Ground library for a period of five years.
Despite Love’s mental health issues and developmental delays, experts at Western State Hospital evaluated Love and found him competent under the legal definition.
The library fires have similar elements to a Feb. 28, 2013, incident in which Love wrote a bomb threat on a wall in a boys’ restroom at Battle Ground High School. He pleaded guilty Aug. 1 to threats to bomb and felony harassment, and was sentenced to five days in jail and 25 days on a work crew.
Because he was no longer allowed at school, he received tutoring sessions at the Battle Ground Library. He set the fires on Nov. 14 and Jan. 6 in the men’s restroom at the library, 1207 S.E. Eighth Way, according to a court affidavit. In both cases, library books were used to start the fires, said Sue Vanlaanen, spokeswoman for the Fort Vancouver Regional Library District.
When Love returned to the study room, his tutor said, she heard the library’s fire alarm sounding, prompting the building to be evacuated. Evidence at the scene suggested that Love set the fire inside a garbage can, according to the affidavit. A basic astronomy book was burned during the fire, Vanlaanen said.
Battle Ground police found Love was carrying a lighter, the affidavit says. The library sustained minor damage.
In the Nov. 14 fire, at least three books were burned. One was a basic math review book; the other two were charred and couldn’t be identified, Vanlaanen said.
Love struggles with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, oppositional defiant disorder, seizures and major depression, among other conditions, according to court documents.
