Lebanon Fire Investigators Help Sheriff Apprehend Arsonist

Detectives were able to identify a suspect from the surveillance camera images.

19-year old Kristian Ray Lee was arrested on Arson charges. Photo: Linn County Sheriff's Office

(LEBANON, Ore.) - Linn County Sheriff's Office Detectives arrested 19-year old Kristian Ray Lee, of Lebanon, on Monday in connection with seven arson fires in the area of Rock Hill Drive near Central Avenue.

The fires were set between the dates of July 30, 2016 and August 28, 2016 along an approximately quarter-mile stretch of Rock Hill Drive between Central Avenue and Ty Valley Road.

The fires were all suspicious in nature as there was never a clearly identifiable cause, and members of the Lebanon Fire District Fire & Life Safety Division launched an official investigation after concurrent fires between August 12 and August 16, 2016.

LFD placed surveillance cameras belonging to the Oregon Department of Forestry in the area, and on August 28, 2016 two new fires were reported on Rock Hill Drive within three minutes of each other.

After extinguishing the fires, LFD investigators accessed the cameras and found images of a male on a bicycle who appeared to be setting the fires.

At that point the incident became a criminal investigation and fire authorities contacted the Linn County Sheriff's Office to hand the investigation over to them.

LCSO Detectives were able to identify a suspect from the images provided by LFD and on Monday September 12, 2016 an arrest was made.

Lee admitted to starting five of the seven fires and has been charged with four counts of Arson I, Reckless Burning, and five counts of Criminal Mischief II.

Lebanon Fire District Division Chief Jason Bolen praised the work of his staff and other agencies for the arrest.

"This arrest is a direct result of the excellent investigation work of Lebanon Fire District fire investigators as well as the tremendous cooperation between the District, the Oregon Department of Forestry, and the Linn County Sheriff's Office.

"Our members did an outstanding job of quickly getting cameras up and sifting through tens of thousands of photos to find images of the suspect. All of their hard work paid off thanks to the great police work of the Linn County Sheriff's Office detectives.

"We want to thank the Oregon Department of Forestry and the Linn County Sheriff's Office for helping us get this arsonist off the streets," Chief Jason Bolen said.

Source: Lebanon Fire District