A park security officer received three years in prison Thursday for setting fire to empty houses on park property in the Cedar Mill community using road flares.
John Michael Townsend, 25, pleaded guilty to two counts of first-degree arson and three counts each of second-degree arson in Washington County Circuit Court in May. Townsend, who is employed with Tualatin Hills Park & Recreation District, initially faced five first-degree arson charges.
Following a plea agreement, Judge Charles Bailey also sentenced Townsend to pay $8,594 in restitution.
Townsend was suspended without pay following his arrest and has remained on that status pending the resolution of his case, said Bob Wayt, a parks district spokesman.
Prosecutor Jeff Lesowski told the court Thursday that Townsend was working as a park patrol officer when he set a series of fires in spring 2015. The case drew media attention, Lesowski said, because it initially began as a "whodunit." The sheriff's office, at the time, released a surveillance photograph of a man wearing a black sweatshirt and jeans with flares sticking out of the back pockets to try to solicit tips from the public to find the serial arsonist.
Fire investigators and a sheriff's detective ultimately identified Townsend as their suspect, Lesowski said. He was arrested in December and accused of setting five fires on park property between April 22, 2015, and May 20, 2015. Three of the fires, according to the sheriff's office, occurred at an empty house and two-story detached garage at 4950 N.W. Saltzman Road. Two others occurred at another abandoned house at 20 N.W. 114th Ave., the sheriff's office said.
After starting the fires, Lesowski told the court, Townsend would leave the scene, then respond back to give the impression that he was a hero.
"Kind of sad," the prosecutor said.
Townsend's attorney, Whitney Boise, simply asked the court to follow the plea agreement for sentencing. He said Townsend has a supportive family and pointed to them filling a row in the courtroom.
Townsend did not make a statement. A letter he submitted to the judge earlier was not read in court.
At the end of Thursday's brief hearing, court deputies placed Townsend, dressed in a blue dress shirt and black slacks, in handcuffs and led him away.
-- Rebecca Woolington
503-294-4049; @rwoolington
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