OROVILLE — The man accused of starting the Park Fire was reportedly seen leaving Bear Hole in Chico’s upper Bidwell Park “highly intoxicated” before high-centering his car near Alligator Hole on July 24, setting off the chain of events that led to the fire.
Those details were revealed by Butte County District Attorney Mike Ramsey during a press conference following arraignment in Butte County Superior Court of Ronnie Dean Stout II, 42, of Chico.
Stout did not enter a plea during the hearing before Judge Kristen Lucena. The judge agreed to Ramsey’s request that the suspect be held without bail, and public defender Nicole Diamond was appointed to represent him.
But after the hearing, Ramsey said witnesses had seen Stout drinking at Bear Hole before driving “recklessly” down gravel Upper Park Road at speeds of 30-50 mph. The car went over a berm just upstream from Alligator Hole, Ramsey said.
He continued that witnesses reported the sound of a motor revving and scraping noises as Stout apparently tried to free the car, his mother’s 2007 Toyota Yaris. Those efforts apparently ignited dry grass and the car.
At that point, about 3 p.m., a witness reported seeing Stout push the burning car into a 60-foot-deep ravine. Ramsey said Stout has denied pushing the car, and instead got scared when the car caught fire and left the area.
The Park Fire has since grown to more than 370,000 acres, with dozens of homes destroyed and thousands of people ordered to evacuate.
DA investigators identified Stout as the suspect. A no-bail warrant was obtained and Stout was arrested in the early morning of July 25, and booked into the Butte County Jail.
Stout has two prior felony convictions, according to Ramsey. He was convicted in 2001 in Butte County for sex crimes against a child under 14 years of age. Then in 2003 he was convicted in Kern County for robbery with great bodily injury.
He was sentenced to state prison for 20 years, Ramsey said, but he did not know how much time was served.
Stout was subsequently arrested in 2020 for drunken driving in upper Bidwell Park, according to Ramsey.
Further arraignment in the case is set for Thursday afternoon.
Stout is charged with willful and malicious arson, which with two prior strikes would result in a sentence of 25 years to life.
