Richland Fred Meyer reopens. 2 arson suspects jailed

A West Richland man who had a felony-free record before last summer is looking at prison time if charged and convicted of starting a fire inside Richland’s Fred Meyer store.

Daniel R. Wright is locked up on suspicion of first-degree arson for the Friday night fire that closed the store for two days, reportedly causing nearly $1 million in damages, in a possible attempt to cover up a shoplifting.

The store reopened at noon Monday after flames scorched the ceiling and light fixtures in the home section and sent smoke throughout the store. There also was water damage.

Jeffery Temple, director of corporate communication for Fred Meyer, said they had to wait until the fire marshal certified the air quality was safe and health inspectors conducted food inspections.

“Everything is as safe as can be,” said Temple, who credited employees for working quickly to restore order, augmented by restoration crews. He added that no employee will lose wages over the temporary closure.

Temple also praised the store’s employees for their reaction to the crisis, saying they followed the company safety manual “to the letter” and later returned to the store to help clean up the smoke damage.

It’s unlikely customers will be able to detect there was ever a fire, he said.

On Monday, a Benton County District Court judge found probable cause to hold Wright without bail while prosecutors consider charges.

But, Wright, 35, won’t be leaving the jail anytime soon.

He’s still serving his earlier sentence on a county work crew after pleaded guilty in November to four felony charges involving the sale of a stolen car and the theft of a man’s wallet.

Before he allegedly started the fire Friday night, Wright spent the day on a nine-hour work crew.

Work crew inmates report to the county jail in the morning and are sent to work sites for the day, then go home in the evening.

In one case, Wright tried to sell a 2014 Toyota Camry to a 65-year-old Richland man.

The two met June 3 so the potential buyer could test drive the car he saw in a Craigslist posting, court documents show.

The Toyota had been reported stolen one week earlier by the registered owner, but the theft had not yet been entered in state and national criminal databases.

When the men met again June 5 at the Tri-Cities Auto Licensing in Richland, the buyer gave Wright $4,500 in hundred dollar bills then went inside to transfer the title, documents said.

A clerk said the title was for the car but rather for a Toyota Sienna van. So, Wright said he was going outside to retrieve the right document and took off with the stolen car — and the buyer’s money.

The Toyota Camry was found later in the day and Wright’s belongings, including a temporary Washington state identification card, were inside, court documents said.

Police later discovered that a Richland officer had stopped Wright on June 5 for speeding, but the officer didn’t know it was a stolen car because the report had not been entered into the computer.

When Wright was arrested, he allegedly had meth and $3,700 cash, said court documents.

Then in August, Wright broke into a locker at Columbia Basin Racquet Club and stole a wallet and cellphone. Soon after, he was captured on video at a Richland 7-Eleven using the credit card from the wallet to spend $18.54.

Wright was sentenced to six months in jail. He started serving the sentence Dec. 1.

Wright checked himself into the jail late Friday to serve an unrelated two-day sentence. That’s when a jail deputy recognized Wright from a security camera photo posted on Facebook by the Richland Police Department about the Fred Meyer fire.

Wright now must serve all of his six months behind bars, with a current scheduled release date of May 12.

A potential charge of first-degree arson, considering Wright’s criminal history, would bring a prison term of three years and five months to 4 1/2 years.

A second suspect, Eliseo J. Garcia, 33, was arrested Monday in Kennewick in connection with the store fire.

He was found Monday at a Kennewick house, where an unrelated shooting suspect also was holed up. That suspect, Jesus G. Salas-Rubio, fled and was still on the run Monday night, said police.

In a related matter, the Benton County auditor closed its Richland branch office at Fred Meyer on Monday, citing possible air quality issues stemming from the fire.

The agency’s employees have been assigned to other offices, but drop boxes for the Feb. 13 school levy elections are posted outside the Fred Meyer branch.

This story was originally published January 29, 2018 at 12:55 PM with the headline "Richland Fred Meyer reopens. 2 arson suspects jailed."