By Pepper Fisher
PORT ANGELES – We have an update on our story from Tuesday about the suspect who started a gasoline fire at the Longhouse in Blyn before stealing a truck and crashing minutes later into a State Patrol officer’s car.
That Officer, Al Alderson, is home from the hospital now, recovering from multiple broken bones. We spoke with his wife Shelli on Friday.
He’s doing okay, he’s able to walk just slowly but mostly all upper body. That’s broken bones. So we really, really appreciate everybody that’s reached out to us. So very thankful.
“He’s doing okay. He’s able to walk, just slowly, but mostly all upper body that’s broken bones. We really, really appreciate everybody that’s reached out to us. So very thankful.”
We also reached out to Randy Lemon, manager of the Longhouse, to ask about the fallout after having a fire at the gas pumps. He says one gas pump is down because of fire damage but parts have been ordered.
As for his Grocery Manager Dan Weaver, whose actions in putting out the fire were described as heroic by the Sheriff’s Office:
“Yeah. You know, our staff did a terrific job in handling everything. He kind of went a little bit above and beyond, and that was a situation that could have went so bad but actually went really well. Dan, he was right in the middle of the fire when it happened, and when it flashed, and he got himself out of there, got himself up and going and extinguished the fire.”
The suspect, 40-year-old David Johnson, appeared in court Thursday. The Judge agreed with prosecutors that there was probable cause to hold Johnson for 72 hours as they determine charges and ordered him held on $1 million bail.
Deputy Prosecutor Jesse Espinoza says Johnson will be back in court today after his public defender told the court he needed more time because he was having trouble communicating with his client.
We asked Espinoza if Johnson was being evaluated for his mental fitness to stand trial.
“Well, we don’t know yet. And that was the issue. The court, I believe, was wondering if a mental assessment should be ordered, but Council wanted time to speak with his client first. So we don’t know exactly what’s going on. We’ll find out at 1:00 today.”
Espinoza says a ‘filing of criminal information’ court date has been set for Monday.
(Photos: Shelli and Officer Al Alderson, Longhouse employee Dan Weaver)