Suspect was target shooting at bachelor party campout
PHOENIX
– On June 22, 2012, Steven Craig Shiflet, 23, from Mesa, Ariz., was
charged by complaint in federal district court with carelessly or
negligently placing an ignited substance
that may cause a fire on National Forest System lands, firing
incendiary ammunition on National Forest System lands, and causing
timber, trees, slash, brush, or grass to burn on National Forest System
lands. Shiflet is scheduled to make an initial appearance
in federal court in Phoenix on July 13, 2012.
Investigation into the source and origin of the Sunflower Fire
indicated that the fire originated near the intersection of Forest Road
25 and Sycamore Creek on May
12, 2012. According to the complaint, Shiflet and four of his friends
traveled to the Sycamore Creek area from Mesa, Ariz., for a campout and
bachelor party on May 11, 2012. The group had been shooting at targets
for approximately two hours on the morning
of May 12, 2012, at which point Shiflet loaded an incendiary shotgun
shell into a shotgun and fired it. Shortly after Shiflet fired the shot,
smoke appeared in the brush just behind where the shot was fired.
Despite their attempts to do so, the men were unable
to extinguish the fire. The fire has now burned nearly 18,000 acres of
National Forest System lands.
A conviction for each of the charges in the complaint carries a maximum
penalty of six months in prison, a $5,000 fine, or both. A criminal
complaint is simply the method by which a person is charged
with criminal activity and raises no inference of guilt. An individual
is presumed innocent until competent evidence is presented that
establishes guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.
The investigation in this case was conducted by the U.S. Forest
Service. The prosecution is being handled by Vincent Kirby, Assistant
U.S. Attorney, District of Arizona, Phoenix.
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment