Woman suspected in string of SoDo arsons charged

SEATTLE — A 32-year-old woman suspected in a string of SoDo arsons in late March has been charged in a two-day series of burnings, charging documents said.

According to charging documents, Yesenia Garcia was charged with two counts of second-degree arson and two counts of second-degree burning.

Garcia, who lived in a van, allegedly set at least nine fires within a three-hour period starting on March 24 and into the next morning, court documents said.

Garcia set the fires within a few blocks of one another and admitted to setting some because she was bored, had no friends and wanted to get somebody’s attention, investigators record show.

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The first fire was set after 11:40 p.m. on March 24 in the 200 block of Lander Street at Flat Iron West Construction, police said. Five fires were set at that location.

Investigators said a fire was set on a tarp that covered wood posts, another was set to heavy-duty plastic wrap and one to the seat of a large forklift. Damaged was estimated to be more than $8,000.

Surveillance video from the construction site showed a woman, later identified as Garcia, setting multiple fires, police said.

In a later incident, Garcia was suspected of igniting some combustibles in the bed of an unoccupied pickup truck in the 2700 block of Occidental Avenue South, police said. It was later discovered that the truck belonged to her boyfriend, police said.

Garcia denied setting fire to the truck but admitted she was angry at her boyfriend, according to police documents.

At Ghostfish Brewery, Garcia reportedly caused $10,500 in estimated damages. She is suspected of setting fire to shrink wrap covering a forklift, which caused aluminum components on it to melt, police said. The fire spread to a garbage bin and that incident was captured on surveillance video.

Police eventually arrested Garcia in the 2700 block of Occidental Avenue South because she was thought to be a person of interest.

She was taken to King County Jail where she was declined for medical reasons, and then transported to Harborview Medical Center. She walked away from the facility after receiving treatment, officials said.

Officers later reviewed video that showed a woman setting a fire at King’s Transmission and all agreed it looked like Garcia and found her at the van and arrested her, police said.

She denied setting any fires until police said they had obtained video footage of the arsons, which is when she admitted to setting multiple fires, officials said.

Police said Garcia is known to suffer from PTSD and has set fires in the past to alleviate stress from PTSD.

Garcia was booked into the King County Jail and bail was set at $165,075.

Cox Media Group