LEWISTON — An Auburn woman admitted Tuesday to setting a fire that prosecutors said caused $1.2 million in damage to an Auburn Walgreens store.
Sarah Huntington Submitted photo
Sarah Huntington, 32, had been indicted earlier this year on charges of arson and aggravated criminal mischief.
Prosecutors on Tuesday dropped the arson charge, a more serious crime, which is punishable by up to 30 years in prison.
Huntington pleaded guilty to the lesser felony charge, which carries a maximum sentence of five years in prison.
In an agreement with prosecutors, Huntington was sentenced to three years, with all but 43 days suspended. She had spent 43 days in jail and was credited Tuesday with that time, meaning she’ll serve no extra jail time.
Huntington will be on probation for two years, during which she’ll be barred from having any illegal drug for which she can be searched and tested at random, but must take all prescribed medications.
She must continue with mental health treatment and not go to any Walgreens stores in Auburn.
Deputy District Attorney Neil McLean told 8th District Court Judge Susan Driscoll that a neighbor to the Walgreens store at 61 Union St. told police she saw her neighbor and a woman at a trash receptacle outside the store shortly on the morning of Nov. 23, 2021.
Auburn Police Chief Jason Moen, left, and Deputy Fire Chief Matt Fifield of the Auburn Fire Department talk in November 2021 outside Walgreens on Union Street in Auburn where a fire forced the business to close. Russ Dillingham/Sun Journal
The woman had set a fire and left the scene, McLean said.
Police located a woman nearby who fit the description given by witnesses of the woman they said had started the fire.
Walgreens’ security video cameras recorded the incident, McLean said.
Huntington matched the image on the video as well as witness descriptions, he said.
The fire in the garbage receptacle ignited the exterior wall of the building before causing “extensive damage” to the store’s interior, McLean said.
He said police later spoke with Huntington, who was “very forthcoming” and admitted she had started the fire to get warm.
She was taken into custody, McLean said, “and at that time there were signs of some mental health distress.”
The Office of the State Fire Marshal estimated damage to the store at $1.2 million, McLean said.
Huntington pleaded guilty Tuesday to an unrelated misdemeanor charge of criminal mischief, but there was no fine or jail term imposed.
Two other cases of criminal mischief and one of theft by unauthorized taking or transfer against Huntington were dismissed by prosecutors.
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