CHICO - Ronnie Dean Stout II, the man arrested on suspicion of starting the sprawling Park Fire in Northern California, has a criminal history dating back to at least 2001 and could face an extended prison sentence if convicted of arson.

Stout faces a felony charge of arson of an inhabited structure or property. He also accused of committing arson with special circumstances, and three enhancements related to prior convictions under California’s “Three Strikes” law.

His defense attorney has not entered a plea, with court proceedings scheduled to continue Thursday, according to the Sacramento Bee.

Cal Fire arson and district attorney investigators arrested Stout at 2 a.m. July 25, nearly 12 hours after the Park Fire started, which the Butte County District Attorney Mike Ramsey said “undoubtedly” would result in a charge of arson for Stout, an offender with “two strikes.”

Stout was arrested at a mobile home park in Chico after officials gathered evidence from witnesses, including a woman who saw him acting “strange” after his car was lit on fire near Alligator Hole at Upper Bidwell Park on the outskirts of Chico, Ramsey said.

The woman saw him “doing nothing other than watch the fire” before getting back into the car, Ramsey said, getting out and pushing it down a 60-foot gully near the swimming hole, starting what by Monday had become the sixth-largest fire in California’s history, Cal Fire records show.

“The male was then seen calmly leaving the area by blending in with the other citizens who were in the area and fleeing the rapidly evolving fire,” a statement from Ramsey’s office said.

Officials later determined that the car belonged to Stout’s mother.

Story Date: August 13, 2024