A 42-year-old Poulsbo man accused of lighting afire a pile of gasoline-doused debris piled in the street before fighting with a police officer pleaded not guilty Wednesday to counts of attempted second-degree arson and felony harassment.
Police had responded to the scene after receiving reports of a man acting irrationally and yelling at neighbors.
On July 6, the man was booked into the Kitsap County Jail on $500,000 bail but is awaiting a bed at an inpatient facility, according to court documents. The man had been suffering from severe mental health problems, Poulsbo police officers learned speaking to his Navy captain.
On July 5, a Poulsbo police sergeant went to the man's house on Claret Loop, off NW Finn Hill Road, where he saw the man light the pile on fire, igniting a large patch of gasoline that ran at least 100 feet down the road, with flames rising 20 feet high.
As the sergeant struggled with the man, a bystander had to get into the sergeant's patrol car and move it as the flow of ignited gasoline ran under it, according to documents. Bystanders also helped restrain the man until other officers could arrive.