Bend woman arrested on reckless burning, theft charges, accused of starting two fires near Deschutes River, Sawyer Park
Barney Lerten
(Update: Police clarify reckless burning, theft charges)
BEND, Ore. (KTVZ) — A Bend woman has been arrested on reckless burning and other charges, accused of starting two fires near the Deschutes River west of Sawyer Park over the weekend that firefighters stopped from spreading.
Police and Bend Fire & Rescue responded shortly after 11 p.m. Saturday to several calls reporting a fire on the west side of the river, across from Sawyer Park, Bend Police Communications Manager Sheila Miller said.
Fire crews quickly contained the fire at about 20 by 20 feet, officials said.
They then requested police assistance, as a second fire had just started south of the initial fire. That one was stopped at about 5 by 5 feet.
Officers searched the area and found Kristina Louise Paulsen, 45, walking in the area of the fires, Miller said.
“She had a lighter in her hand when she was contacted,” she added.
Officers arrested Paulsen and took her to the Deschutes County Jail on two charges of reckless burning, as well as first-degree criminal mischief, second-degree theft and a parole violation warrant.
It’s far from Paulsen’s first time being arrested. KTVZ News found she has been arrested at least 7 times in Oregon, mostly for possessing or selling heroin. A 2017 report from KTVZ News found she was 1 of 5 arrested in a large investigation targeting drug distribution in Central Oregon.
For these most recent charges, Miller told KTVZ News the initial charges were reckless burning and not arson because there was “nothing in the report that says we could prove they were intentionally set.”
She also explained the theft charge to us.
“When officers contacted her, they also contacted someone else in the park who said she had stolen pieces of property from him, before the fires were started – not the lighter, random stuff,” Miller told us.