Man sentenced for storage arson
Candice Boutilier/Columbia Basin Herald<br> A Moses Lake firefighter documents the scene where fire and smoke damaged roughly a dozen units at Broadway Storage in November 2009.
EPHRATA — A 29-year-old man will serve nine months in jail for starting a fire in Broadway Storage in Moses Lake, damaging 12 units.
Jason Kneff, a transient living in Moses Lake, entered an Alford plea to charges of arson in the second degree and attempt to take a motor vehicle in Grant County Superior Court.
He stated he didn’t think he was guilty, but felt a jury would convict him of higher charges, according to court records.
Grant County Superior Court Judge Evan Sperline followed the prosecutor’s recommendations in sentencing Kneff to the maximum term. Kneff has no prior criminal history, according to court records.
Kneff was charged with arson, but claims he was only smoking inside of a unit owned by his mother in November 2009 when the fire started, according to a Moses Lake police report. He claims he didn’t know how the fire started.
He was charged with attempting to take a motor vehicle for reportedly failing to return a rental car after nearly a month, according to a police report.
Prosecutor Angus Lee stated Kneff agreed to pay $3,362 in restitution to the car rental company.
A restitution hearing for the arson is being scheduled.