A Woodland man who set fires while walking along Interstate 5 in August was sentenced Wednesday and released.
Samuel U. Morales, 57, pleaded guilty in Clark County Superior Court to second-degree reckless burning in connection with the incident south of Ridgefield.
He initially faced a second-degree arson charge but it was amended in exchange for his guilty plea.
Judge David Gregerson agreed to follow the attorneys’ sentencing recommendation of 84 days, a sentence that Morales had already served.
According to a probable cause affidavit, a Washington State Department of Transportation employee reported seeing a man walking along the roadway’s shoulder and lighting brush on fire. The fires were near Dolan Road at Bird’s English Nursery, the Washington State Patrol said.
The employee, Dean Strey, said he saw a man, identified by police as Morales, standing near the fire with a shovel. He said he thought Morales was attempting to put out the fire, the affidavit said.
Strey stopped to help, he said, and that’s when he noticed Morales was setting grass on fire with a lighter, according to court records.
During his hearing, Morales’ defense attorney, Katie Kauffman, said her client’s case was heavily negotiated and that a doctor had found Morales was insane at the time of the crime.
