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HEALDSBURG — A local man is behind bars after police found him illegally lighting fires while apparently high on methamphetamine.
On Monday, July 3rd, just before 6 AM, Sheriff’s Dispatch received a report of “a naked man setting fires in the middle of the road near the 4700 block of Mill Creek.”
Responding officers discovered a garbage can in the middle of the road that had recently been set ablaze. Inside were the smoldering remains of what appeared to be sticks and clothing.
Down the road, another fire was found burning, to which Healdsburg Fire had already responded and were in the process of putting out.
Finally, officers came across 36-year-old Jesse Wagy. Given that it was 51 degrees outside and Wagy was wearing only shorts and sandals, something seemed amiss.
Wagy told them he and a friend were out practicing how to extinguish fires, despite officers not finding any evidence of extinguisher use, nor being able to locate the friend Wagy was talking about.
Officers searched Wagy and found six ounces of methamphetamine on him (of which he’d apparently partaken), as well as a propane torch and a book of matches.
Police estimate that had Wagy’s shenanigans spread to the brush, leaves, and trees near the side of the road, the damage could have been enormous.
Wagy was arrested for lighting an illegal fire and possession of methamphamine. He is housed at Sonoma County Jail on bail of $10,000.
