SEATTLE — A man has been charged with three felonies in connection with a New Year’s Eve fire that damaged the Seattle Betsuin Buddhist Temple near the Chinatown International District.
King County prosecutors Thursday charged Waylon James Williams, 42, with first-degree reckless burning, second-degree burglary and residential burglary.
Video surveillance showed Williams walking up to the temple’s front door just before 10 p.m. Sunday and trying to open the door, according to charging documents. The same video showed Williams quickly exiting the building roughly an hour later, the court filings allege.
Shortly after, Seattle police arrested Williams at a home he broke into about a block away from the temple, according to his charges.
While police handcuffed Williams, he told an officer he had paranoid schizophrenia and believed he was being followed by the federal government, according to charging documents. “So I went into that Church, and I’m sorry I started a fire,” he said, according to the documents.
Williams told police he took refuge in the temple because people were chasing him, and he was scared for his life, the charging documents allege. He said he found a large amount of liquor bottles and propane tanks downstairs, and the fire started “because he was throwing things around,” according to the police report.
Firefighters initially extinguished the blaze, but smoldering material reignited Tuesday and caused further damage to the temple.
The charging documents estimate the fire caused tens of thousands of dollars in damage. Alex Sakamoto, a minister assistant and temple board member, said most of the temple sustained smoke damage, along with damage from water used to douse the flames.
Just outside the room where the fire began were the temple’s physical archives, which date back to 1901 when first-generation Japanese Americans founded the temple. The current location was built during World War II in 1943, and the destroyed archives contained documents from when temple members were detained in incarceration camps.
“By losing this, we’re losing this knowledge and history,” Sakamoto said.
The temple is closed indefinitely and is accepting donations on its website, seattlebetsuin.org/fire, to help with rebuilding efforts.
Williams remains in the King County Jail in lieu of $40,000 bail and is scheduled to be arraigned Jan. 17.
He has a history of felony and misdemeanor convictions, most recently in 2020. The state has issued more than 50 warrants for his arrest since 2001.
Seattle Times staff reporter Greg Kim contributed to this story.
