Suspect In King Fire Had Previous Run-Ins With The Law
POLLOCK PINES (CBS13) - Pollock pines resident Wayne Allen Huntsman will call El Dorado County Jail home for a while, since a county judge set his bail at $10 million for arson charges in the King Fire.
His former neighbor Crystal Fortner said he's been behind bars several times before, and was a nightmare living next to him at a trailer and bungalow complex on Pony Express Trail.
"He knocked my husband out, so I wasn't really happy with him after that," said Fortner, who claims her husband stopped a disturbance between Huntsman and his girlfriend's son.
Fortner said Huntsman was known to start trouble in Pollock Pines, but he also had convictions in Santa Cruz for assault with a deadly weapon and grand theft in 1997, and in Plumas County for receiving stolen property in 2003.
In Pollock Pines, Fortner said Huntsman's drinking lead to minor arrests. She said her husband was once his friend, but Huntsman's drinking led to fights.
Fortner said one night Huntsman and her husband were walking home from a local bar when they were stopped by law enforcement.
"All the police wanted to do was ask him what his name was, and he was giving them a fake name," said Fortner. "Then once they figured out what his name was, he was arguing with the cop."
Huntsman moved out three months ago, but not before getting into trouble again.
"He was fighting with his cousin, drunk out here, and he got arrested then too," she said.
Law enforcement won't say what evidence they have on Huntsman or why they arrested him for starting the King Fire. They will say one detective pieced it together.
"A very, very experienced investigator was on scene," said El Dorado District Attorney Vern Pierson.
Fortner said around town she heard Huntsman told people he saw two kids running from where the fire started.
Huntsman denied our request for an interview.
Fortner said she's packed and ready to leave if the fire gets to close.
"If it does get that close, I don't want to lose any of my stuff," she said. "And if he did do something like that, that's horrible."
According to court records, Huntsman is on probation for a disturbing the peace conviction last summer.
