Trespassing. Meth. Now burning. Career criminal faces new Tri-Cities charges

A convicted felon who spent several months in a state hospital for competency restoration in early 2017 is back behind bars for allegedly burning garbage on railroad property.

Jared W. Pruitt, 27, had methamphetamine on him when tracked down a short time later by Kennewick police.

He initially asked for a warning so he wouldn’t be in jail during his son’s birthday, then “became very upset and started screaming and shaking” once placed in a patrol car, court documents said.

Pruitt’s lengthy criminal history includes a December 2016 attack on his friend’s grandmother inside the elderly woman’s Richland home.

In that case, Pruitt was seeking a place to stay after being released from jail. His request was turned down, but he returned the following day and strangled Martha Turner after throwing her to the floor.

Turner survived the assault, but she died months later after suffering extensive burns in an unrelated house fire.

That case was on hold for some time while Pruitt got mental health treatment.

He eventually pleaded guilty to third-degree assault and got a year in county jail, with credit for already doing the time.

This time, Pruitt is charged in Benton County Superior Court with possessing meth for the Water Follies weekend incident.

He pleaded innocent Thursday and has a Sept. 17 trial date. Bail is set at $2,000.

He is scheduled to appear Aug. 10 in Benton County District Court for charges of reckless burning and second-degree criminal trespass.

Firefighters responded about 11 a.m. July 28 to a fire in the middle of a dry grass field near West Canal Drive and North Quincy Place, across from the golf course.

While the fire was contained to a 2-foot area, the dry brush extended toward a residential area and a strip of land where people were watching the Water Follies along Canal Drive, according to court documents.

Pruitt came out from a cluster of trees and told firefighter Shane Webb that he was burning garbage and it was controlled.

Then he ran away, documents said.

Police found Pruitt up the road in an area where homeless people often go.

He questioned how he could be arrested for trespassing as an officer was walking him past a “No Trespassing” sign on their way to the patrol car, documents said.

Pruitt refused to talk about the incident.

Webb was asked to come to the spot and confirm that Pruitt was the man he’d seen burning.

In addition to the attack on the elderly woman, Pruitt’s criminal history includes drug possession, burglary, felony harassment, third-degree assault and 16 gross misdemeanor and misdemeanor convictions, prosecutors said.