Neighbors described the rural Kelso man accused of detonating explosives that burned down his home Wednesday during an armed standoff with a SWAT team as both a good neighbor and “the type of neighbor you don’t make eye contact with.”
John Threlfall, 41, was charged Thursday with first-degree arson, discharging a weapon, two counts of second-degree assault, drive-by shooting and hit-and-run from both a standoff at his home Wednesday and road rage incident Sunday that led to the confrontation.
Neighbor Rhonda Ayres said Threlfall was “a good neighbor, he really was.”
“I didn’t know he was this crazy,” she said Thursday, adding that she had heard gunshots and fireworks late Wednesday night but was afraid to come outside.
During an initial appearance in court Thursday, Threlfall appeared distraught. In a videoconference court appearance from the jail, he said repeatedly that he didn’t do what he was accused of doing and that he had not been in trouble for 20 years.