Park Fire arson suspect appears in court. DA says accused man called it ‘an accident’

A man accused of starting the sixth-largest blaze in California history, the Park Fire, allegedly lit a car on fire near two popular swimming holes filled with people and pushed the vehicle down a 60-foot embankment, causing nearby dry grass to catch fire, according to the Butte County District Attorney’s Office.

But the defendant, 42-year-old Chico resident Ronnie Dean Stout II, denies pushing his car into a gully in Upper Bidwell Park last Wednesday, as recounted by a witness to law enforcement, said Butte County District Attorney Michael Ramsey during a news conference held Monday, after Stout’s first court appearance at the Butte County Courthouse.

Stout said his car simply rolled down a hill — he didn’t push it — and that it was “an accident,” Ramsey said.

Investigators are attempting to piece together Stout’s motive, Ramsey said.

“If you try to figure out what happens in a crazy mind,” Ramsey said, “it will drive you crazy.”

Nicole Diamond, Stout’s attorney who appeared for the arraignment, did not immediately return a request for comment. A woman in the gallery on Monday expressed her encouragement of Stout as he walked back into custody following the hearing.

“We support you Ronnie!” the woman said in the crowded courtroom. “Be safe.”

The Park Fire, as of Monday afternoon, had burned a total of 373,357 acres (583 square miles), and 12% of the wildfire had been contained, according to Cal Fire. More than 100 structures have been reduced to rubble, while thousands of residents have been evacuated from their homes.

Stout has been charged in Butte Superior Court with one felony: arson of an inhabited structure or property. That charge is enhanced with arson with special circumstances and three enhancements related to prior strike convictions, according to court documents.

Stout did not enter a plea for the charges Monday. He appeared Monday in a green shirt and gray pants, with his hands handcuffed to his front Monday during his arraignment hearing. Stout looked down at times, nodding once to his defense attorney, Nicole Diamond, and looked to be in pain as Ramsey described his past convictions.

Judge Kristen Lucena ruled he will remain in jail without bail due to the “extreme danger posed by the crime of arson.”

The public is well-aware of devastating wildfires that have ripped through Butte County in prior years, such as the Dixie and Camp fires known as California’s most destructive and deadly blazes. The Thompson Fire this year caused “extensive damage within the courthouse and throughout Oroville,” Lucena said.

Despite this knowledge, the defendant is accused of setting his car on fire in dry, hot and windy conditions, Lucena said. Stout is accused of emerging from heavy vegetation along the hiking path and “calmly” joining evacuees fleeing the area, prosecutors said.

But Stout said he left the area because he was afraid, Ramsey said during the news conference.

“This case presents just such a narrow, unusual case of the most serious crime,” Lucena said.

This fire didn’t have to happen, Ramsey said.

There are “indications” Stout was intoxicated prior to the incident. However, Ramsey did not say the defendant’s blood alcohol level because he was not arrested at the scene.

Witnesses saw him drinking near the watering hole, Ramsey said. Another person saw the defendant driving “extraordinarily” recklessly and with speed, Ramsey said.

Stout, according to prosecutors, has two prior convictions under California’s “Three Strikes” law, If convicted of arson, he could be sentenced to 25 years to life in prison.

He was convicted in 2001 of lewd and lascivious acts with a child under 14 in Butte County, where he was sentenced to serve a year in jail. In 2002, he was convicted in Kern County of robbery and assault with a deadly weapon causing great bodily injury.

The latter resulted in a 20-year prison sentence, according to Ramsey and Kern Superior Court documents.

While on parole after his Kern County conviction, Stout was convicted of a DUI after he drove under the influence near Upper Bidwell Park, Ramsey said.

Stout is scheduled to appear Thursday for a further arraignment hearing.

The Bee’s Hector Amezcua contributed to this story.