Who is Park Fire arson suspect Ronnie Stout? What to know about Chico man’s charges, history
Ronnie Dean Stout II, the man arrested last week on suspicion of starting the sprawling Park Fire in Northern California, has a criminal history dating back to at least 2001 and could face an extended prison sentence if convicted of arson.
Stout appeared Monday for his arraignment in Butte Superior Court. He faces a felony charge of arson of an inhabited structure or property. He also faces an enhancement of committing arson with special circumstances, and three enhancements related to prior convictions under California’s “Three Strikes” law.
His defense attorney did not enter a plea Monday on Stout’s behalf, with court proceedings scheduled to continue Thursday.
Here’s what else to know about Stout, his alleged role in the Park Fire and his criminal history.
What is Stout accused of in Park Fire?
Cal Fire arson and district attorney investigators arrested Stout at 2 a.m. July 25, nearly 12 hours after the Park Fire started, which the Butte County District Attorney Mike Ramsey said “undoubtedly” would result in a charge of arson for Stout, an offender with “two strikes,” during a July 25 news conference.
Stout was arrested at a mobile home park in Chico after officials gathered evidence from witnesses, including a woman who saw him acting “strange” after his car lit on fire near Alligator Hole at Upper Bidwell Park on the outskirts of Chico, Ramsey said.
The woman saw him “doing nothing other than watch the fire” before getting back into the car, Ramsey said, getting out and pushing it down a 60-foot gully near the swimming hole, starting what by Monday had become the sixth-largest fire in California’s history, Cal Fire records show.
“The male was then seen calmly leaving the area by blending in with the other citizens who were in the area and fleeing the rapidly evolving fire,” a statement from Ramsey’s office said.
Officials later determined that the car belonged to Stout’s mother.
One witness posted her encounter with initial flames in what quickly became a viral TikTok video, where she described witnessing a man push the burning car and casually walk away, a description she gave to police along with the photos she got of the man.
What are Stout’s prior convictions?
In 2001, Stout was found guilty of lewd and lascivious acts with a child under 14 in Butte County where he was sentenced to serve a year in jail. The following year, Stout was convicted of committing robbery and great bodily injury in Kern County.
He was sentenced to 20 years in prison after the 2002 conviction, but was arrested on suspicion of DUI in 2020, so it is unclear when he was released from prison, Ramsey said last week during a news conference.
Details of the criminal cases that led to the two prior convictions were not immediately available. The earlier case resulted in Stout being registered as a sex offender.
Stout’s entry on the Megan’s Law website — California’s database for registered sex offenders — shows his last reported address as a mobile home park in Chico.
A warrant from a local judge allowed Stout to be arrested and held without bail, and he is currently being held in the Butte County Jail.
Under California’s “Three Strikes You’re Out” law, which increases prison sentences for those previously convicted of violent or serious felons.
Stout could serve 25 years to life if found guilty of arson.
