Arson suspect has long history of setting fires

Kevin Todd Swalwell was 20 years old when he was first convicted of setting a fire and sent off to prison.

That was in 1983.

The now-46-year-old homeless man also served seven years behind bars for setting four fires in the mid-1990s — three of them at his grandmother's North Seattle apartment complex.

Swalwell is the prime suspect in a rash of arsons that have plagued Seattle's Greenwood neighborhood since June, according to Seattle police.

During Swalwell's first court appearance this afternoon, King County District Court Judge Eileen A. Kato ordered Swalwell held on $1 million bail. Kato said the high bail amount was justified because of "concerns for public safety and welfare."

Swalwell's next court appearance was scheduled for Nov. 17, the deadline for King County prosecutors to file formal charges against him.

Swalwell has also been identified as the primary "person of interest" in connection with an early-morning blaze that destroyed a vacant Shoreline warehouse Friday and was ruled an arson by fire investigators, said Melanie Granfors, a spokeswoman for the Shoreline Fire Department.

Seattle police have evidence — a surveillance video and a palm print — tying Swalwell to two of the Greenwood fires, according to a probable-cause statement submitted by Seattle police to the King County Prosecuting Attorney's Office on Friday.

The document, which outlines evidence so far collected by police, will be submitted to a judge who will decide this afternoon whether there is sufficient evidence to hold Swalwell in the King County Jail until prosecutors can file charges.

Swalwell, who is scheduled to make his first court appearance at 1 p.m., is expected to be charged with felony arson on Tuesday, said Ian Goodhew, deputy chief of staff to King County Prosecutor Dan Satterberg.

Swalwell was booked into the jail just before 9 a.m. Friday, hours after he was seen within 10 blocks of the Shoreline warehouse fire.

Police say Swalwell was caught on surveillance-camera video at "the time of a fire being set" Nov. 9 behind the Olive You restaurant at 8516 Greenwood Ave. N., in the Greenwood neighborhood, according to the probable-cause document.

Police also matched Swalwell's palm print to one left on a container of lighter fluid left near the scene of an Aug. 13 fire at a home in the 100 block of Northwest 84th Street, the court document says. One man suffered burns and "was forced to flee or die" from the flames, it says.

At a Friday news conference, Acting Assistant Police Chief Paul McDonagh said Swalwell had been seen at three earlier fire scenes in Greenwood. A tip early in the investigation also put Swalwell on detectives' radar.

"Detectives believe Swalwell is responsible for some, if not all, of the arsons in Greenwood," McDonagh said.

After Swalwell's "name came up" in a tip provided by a local citizen, "it led us to at least look for this gentleman," he said.

Another law-enforcement source said police also are looking at whether others assisted him, including a man who was questioned and released Friday.

According to Seattle police, Swalwell was on foot several blocks from the Shoreline fire when he was stopped by members of a Seattle arson task force who were en route to the blaze, which began just after midnight Friday.

Swalwell has an extensive criminal history, including two prior felony arson convictions from 1983 and 1994, according to court records.

He began serving 10 ½ years in prison in November 1995 for setting three fires in his grandmother's apartment complex in North Seattle. He pleaded guilty to four counts of first-degree arson and one count of second-degree arson for those fires set at the Echo Lakes Apartment complex, in the 19500 block of Aurora Avenue North, in July 1995 and for a house fire set in February 1994.

The Feb. 21, 1994, house arson occurred while Swalwell was living in the neighborhood with his grandmother. At the time, he allegedly blamed the fire on his cousin, who subsequently passed a polygraph.

Detectives were immediately tipped to Swalwell in that case because the arsonist used the Feb. 17, 1994, edition of The Seattle Times to build the fire. When a member of the victims' family asked Swalwell's grandmother if she had seen anything, he noticed part of the Feb. 17 edition on her table.

With her permission he checked her recycling bin, and when he could not find the rest of that day's edition, he notified police.

Chad Lewis, a spokesman for the state Department of Corrections, said Swalwell is currently on community supervision for a drug-possession charge. He served a one-year sentence and was released from prison in November 2007 but remains on community supervision because of numerous parole violations, Lewis said.

There have been 68 arsons in the Greenwood neighborhood in the last two years, and 17 of those were set in the last two months, Kelvin Crenshaw, the special agent in charge of the Seattle field office of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), said at Friday's news conference.

It's unknown if Swalwell is responsible for more than the 14 arsons that police so far believe are linked to the same suspect. A $25,000 reward has been offered for information leading to the apprehension of the arsonist.

"Every time he strikes a match, it leaves human lives in the balance," Crenshaw said. "... Hopefully we've reached the end of the road" with Swalwell's arrest.

Though police and fire officials released only sparse information at the news briefing, Deputy Police Chief Clark Kimerer said arson patrols will continue to in the Greenwood neighborhood for the time being.

There's no reason to think a copycat arsonist is at work, but given that "this crime spree has struck such fear into the hearts of citizens," Kimerer said police will remain vigilant until they can be satisfied that no other suspects remain at large.

One of Swalwell's most recent mailing addresses is that of the Ballard Food Bank.

Nancy McKinney, the food bank's executive director, confirmed that Swalwell is one of approximately 600 people who receive their mail at the food bank on 24th Avenue Northwest, which is a little more than two miles from the intersection of North 85th Street and Greenwood Avenue North, site of an Oct. 23 fire that destroyed four eateries and caused $2 million in damage.

"I just talked to him five days ago. He called to ask about his mail," said McKinney, who hasn't personally met Swalwell.

"I really hope it's the guy because whoever is doing it [setting the fires] is really messed up," she said.

In recent months, Swalwell was also a regular client at the Volunteer of America's Greenwood Food Bank, picking up weekly bags of no-cook food, said program director Patricia Leach.

Swalwell visited the food bank earlier this week for emergency food supplies, including granola bars, soup, canned tuna, cookies, fruit, bread and sandwich meats, Leach said.

A volunteer who handed Swalwell his bag of food told Leach that Swalwell was always accompanied by two other men.

According to the volunteer, Swalwell "wasn't a happy soul," Leach said.

Seattle Times reporters Steve Miletich and Susan Gilmore and news researcher Miyoko Wolf contributed to this report, which contains material from Seattle Times archives.

Sara Jean Green: 206-515-5654 or sgreen@seattletimes.com