PORT ANGELES — Cellphone analytics helped the Clallam County Sheriff’s Office locate and arrest a Sedro-Woolley man suspected of starting a New Year’s Day fire that significantly damaged a Beaver-area residence at 201821 U.S. Highway 101.
Marshall Jay Lewis, 36, was arrested Friday morning at his home in Sedro-Woolley by Clallam County sheriff’s detectives assisted by the Sedro-Woolley Police Department.
Lewis was transported back to Clallam County and booked into the county jail.
He faces possible charges including arson, residential burglary, voyeurism and telephone harassment.
He is being held without bail.
Sheriff’s detectives said they developed probable cause for Lewis’ arrest after serving search warrants for cellphone data and other evidence that further led them to Lewis.
Brian King, chief criminal deputy with the Sheriff’s Office, said information gleaned from local cell towers indicated Lewis was in the vicinity of the Beaver-area home at the time of the arson.
“That was one thing we learned from his cell records,” King said.
“He was in the area. Records also show that he traveled from Skagit County and returned to Skagit County based upon the towers.”
Lewis currently is registered as a Level 1 sex offender in Skagit County.
Lewis’ registration requirement comes from a 2010 rape conviction in Snohomish County Superior Court.
The suspected arson case is being forwarded to the Clallam County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office for a formal charging decision.
Early morning fire
The fire at the 1,564-square-foot home was reported to emergency dispatchers at about 9:16 a.m. Jan. 1.
No one was home at the time of the fire, and no one was hurt.
Sheriff’s Office and Clallam County Fire District No. 1 investigators determined the fire had multiple points of origin in a manner that indicated an accelerant such as gasoline was used, King has said.
Smoke filled the four-bedroom home, assessed by the county at $121,589, but the flames did not destroy it.
Emergency personnel from the Forks and Beaver fire departments extinguished the blaze.
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Reporter Chris McDaniel can be reached at 360-452-2345, ext. 5074, or cmcdaniel@peninsuladailynews.com.
