A 64-year-old Des Moines woman pleaded not guilty on Monday to a first-degree arson charge for allegedly starting a three-alarm fire that burned down most of a Kent strip mall along Pacific Highway South.
Linda K. Poplawski entered her plea in King County Superior Court at the Maleng Regional Justice Center in Kent, according to the King County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office. She is scheduled to return to court for a hearing on Dec. 12 when a trial date could be set or attorneys could ask for more time to prepare the case. She remained in custody Monday at the county jail with bail set at $225,000.
If convicted as charged, Poplawski faces a prison sentence range of 21 to 27 months, said Dan Donohoe, spokesman for the Prosecuting Attorney’s Office.
Prosecutors claim Poplawski started a fire on Nov. 13 at the Dollar Tree store in the 23400 block of Pacific Highway South. She reportedly became upset the store didn’t have any shopping carts available and started the fire in the greeting card section.
Witnesses told a Kent Police officer that Poplawski made comments inside the Dollar Tree store about burning it down, according to court documents. Police arrested Poplawski outside the strip mall less than two hours after 911 callers first reported the fire. She took video and photos of the fire from the parking lot. Police found two lighters in her possession.
About 20 people were in the store when the fire broke out. Everyone got out safely. The three alarms totaled 75 firefighters and more than 20 support personnel. The fire burned for more than 24 hours in part because of so many paper products and the roof collapsing.
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