Man charged in Tacoma Freighthouse Square fire could be linked to another arson

A 31-year-old man accused of starting a fire this month outside the historic Freighthouse Square in Tacoma could have committed another arson at a building on Hilltop, according to charging documents.

Jabari Ahkiel Jones was charged last week in Pierce County Superior Court with first-degree arson in the March 8 fire at 602 E. 25th St. According to the court documents, Jones was seen on surveillance footage stacking wood and garbage on the south side of the more than 110-year-old building. It’s unclear how it was ignited, but the resulting fire burned a wall up to Freighthouse Square’s roof, leaving char marks and causing about $20,000 in damage.

Sounder train staff and passengers were inside the building when the fire started at about 4:15 a.m., according to the declaration for determination of probable cause, but no one was injured.

Jones was arraigned on charges in the Freighthouse Square fire on Thursday, and pleas of not guilty were entered on his behalf. Commissioner Craig Adams set bail at $200,000.

Tacoma Police Department detectives believe Jones might also be tied to a fire and explosion at 917 Martin Luther King Jr. Way in July 2021 that caused $15,000 in damage, court records say. Prosecutors wrote in charging papers that a bulletin issued by police that year showed a man believed to be the defendant light a piece of cardboard on fire and toss it under the crawl space of the business.

The person walked away and returned with what looked like a water bottle a half-hour later, records state. He poured the contents onto the fire, which caused the explosion. Prosecutors wrote that an additional arson charge might be filed.

One company with an office at that address is Site Workshop, a landscape architecture firm that has done designs for projects including Tacoma’s Dune Peninsula and Titlow Park, as well as landscaping elements for Amazon’s Spheres in Seattle. Becky Handshew, operations director for the firm, said Monday that the fire was small, but it caused smoke damage. She said several people were inside when the fire occurred.

Jones’ defense attorney did not return a call from The News Tribune on Monday.

According to court records, the defendant has several felony convictions in Pierce County. Most recently, he pleaded guilty last October to second-degree theft for stealing items from a vacant building in Tacoma. In June of last year, he was sentenced for second-degree assault for shooting a person at a homeless encampment in August 2021 under Interstate 705.

Firefighters went to the Freighthouse Square fire while crews were still putting out flames at a vacant building a few blocks away at 323 E. 26th St. According to court records, that fire resulted in a total loss. Police previously said one person was suspected of starting both fires, but Jones was not charged in the vacant building fire.

Prosecutors wrote in charging papers that the other fire was still under investigation last week, and it’s not known if that fire was set intentionally.

The fire at Freighthouse Square spread to the building’s interior, according to the declaration for determination of probable cause, but most businesses were able to open the same day. One store owner said most of the damage was near the building’s event space, Foss Hall. The building’s owner, Brian Borgelt, said it was the eighth arson at his building in the last four years.

The defendant was arrested almost a week after the fire when a tipster recognized him from a Crime Stoppers bulletin, according to police. Records state the tipster saw Jones hanging around her apartment complex for several days wearing the same clothes and backpack he was shown wearing in the bulletin. Police located and arrested him at an apartment complex on Hilltop.

In interviews with detectives, Jones was shown the surveillance footage that allegedly shows him starting the fire at Freighthouse Square. Detectives asked him why he would do that.

“The defendant replied, ‘I’m down on my luck and too much is going on in my life,’” prosecutors wrote.