COLDSPRING — A man arrested in connection with an arson case filed after a March forest fire allegedly failed to show for a court case and is now facing failure to appear charges.
Garnett “Rip” Valentine, 73, was indicted in June on a charge of arson recklessly destroying a building, a state jail felony, after the March Pauline Road Fire in San Jacinto County, according to San Jacinto County District Attorney Todd Dillon.
According to a Texas A&M Forest Service report, Valentine was a licensed burn manager subcontracted to do a controlled burn in San Jacinto County on March 18. The burn was initially to be only 8 acres, but misjudgment on wind patterns led the fire to escape the area, resulting in approximately 2,421 acres of forest land in San Jacinto and Montgomery counties to be destroy.
The report also states that the fire destroyed a building owned by David Reichard.
An investigation by Texas A&M Forest Service Assistant Chief Law Enforcement Officer Joshua Mizrany led to the arson charge.
