A homeless man who police say started several fires in downtown Lewiston last spring, including one that scorched the back of the Les Schwab truck center, has pleaded guilty to second-degree arson in Lewiston's 2nd District Court.
If District Judge Jay P. Gaskill accepts the terms of a plea agreement, Joshua S. Lueck, 22, could serve 30 days in jail as part of an 18-month suspended prison sentence. Lueck, who lists a Pomeroy address, would also be tapped for restitution for the damages caused by the downtown blazes. The fires burned ornamental trees and shrubbery, blackened a wall and damaged the eaves and siding on the back of the truck center. The amount of restitution owed is expected to be set at an Aug. 17 presentence hearing.
The Lewiston Fire Department responded in March and April 2015 to the intermittent nighttime fires around the 1400 block of Main Street. Nine small fires were reported near downtown Lewiston over a three-week period, including the flare-up in an ornamental shrub between the parking lot of Waffles n' More and the Zip Trip gas station next door.
The biggest blaze at the back of the truck center at 2:09 a.m. April 28, 2015, caused extensive damage. According to court testimony, that fire shot flames over the garage roof and sent up a plume of smoke that was visible for miles.
Police detectives reviewed video footage and identified Lueck leaving a nearby gas station, according to a police report, where he purchased matches before walking in the direction of the truck center minutes before flames rolled up the side of the building. Additional footage used in a separate incident shows Lueck leaving the gas station and walking in the direction of the Lewiston Community Center. The footage shows a flash of light a minute later, like the snap of a cigarette lighter or match, followed by a burst of flame. When police confronted Lueck the day after the Les Schwab fire, according to police, he had soot on his hands.
Gaskill ordered a presentence investigation for Lueck that could help determine sentencing in the case. He is out of jail on $5,000 bond.
Bartholdt can be contacted at [email protected] or (208) 848-2275.
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