Wanted woman set fire to a Kennewick apartment building. Now she owes $670,000
A woman now has a $673,000 bill and a prison sentence after setting fire to a Kennewick apartment building that left several people without a home.
Kayla Lyn Guzman, 35, admitted to starting the fire that destroyed two apartments and left two more with water damage at 111 McKinley St.
Guzman pleaded guilty this week in Benton County Superior Court to first-degree arson.
While she had five other outstanding felony cases in Benton, Franklin and Yakima counties at the time, she hadn’t been convicted in any of those cases.
That meant the sentencing range was a year and nine months to two years and three months in prison.
Prosecutors recommended the maximum, and Judge Jennifer Azure agreed with the recommendation.
Guzman also was ordered to pay $673,000 in restitution with the possibility of needing to pay more, according to court documents. Most of that money is going to pay the insurance company and another $2,000 to the owner of the building.
Her attorney Michael Vander Sys told the Herald that Guzman admitted to the judge on Monday that her actions were driven by her drug and alcohol abuse.
On Thursday, Guzman had an additional five months added to her sentence when she pleaded guilty to attempting to elude police, hit-and-run and second-degree theft.
Deputy Prosecutor Julie Long told Judge Jacqueline Stam that Guzman is “a menace,” who is always eluding police and driving in stolen cars.
Next she is heading to Franklin County jail for three cases including three counts of attempting to elude a police vehicle from 2020 and 2023 and one count of illegally possessing a gun in 2020.
It’s unclear how much time those cases may add to her prison sentence.
Kennewick apartment fire
Guzman, a transient, was wanted in five separate felony cases when one of the residents of the McKinley Street apartment building allowed her inside.
Police received a tip about Guzman staying at the apartment. Officers surrounded the building and knocked on the door on May 28.
They evacuated the other people inside the apartment and learned Guzman was in the shower. She didn’t respond initially to officers, then they heard a woman shouting, “If you come in here I’ll shoot.”
The officers backed out and got a search warrant. That’s when they saw smoke coming form the apartment’s bedroom and Guzman was in a neighboring apartment.
She still refused to come out. Tri-City Regional SWAT was called in and eventually arrested her.
The blaze destroyed both of the upstairs apartments, Deputy Fire Chief Michael Heffner said. The two lower apartments were water damaged.
Eluding police
Guzman was previously wanted in connection with a Dec. 7, 2022, confrontation with police in Kennewick.
Officers had learned she was driving a Nissan Rogue and saw her in the car in a parking lot .
When officers turned on their lights, Guzman allegedly started honking, flashing her lights and sped out of the parking spot.
As she headed toward the exit, an officer tried to prevent her from leaving by putting his car in front of her vehicle. She drove directly at the patrol car.
The officer feared she was going to drive into his car and got out of the way. Instead, she hit the side of the patrol vehicle and escaped.
