A BLM activist and alleged arsonist charged for reckless burning in the second degree had reported a fire set in Washington and then filmed his subsequent arrest.
Jeffrey Acord, 36 of Pallyup, called 911 Wednesday evening to report a fire in the median of Highway 167 near Tacoma, Washington. After dialing dispatch services, Acord then livestreamed the incident to his Facebook page, providing constant narration.
According to Q13 Fox, Washington State Patrol Trooper Ryan Burke reported that a man was caught setting a fire in the brush. State patrol also sourced a woman who cited a man walking on the highway in Sumner holding a lighter.
When an officer questioned Acord's presence, the suspect claimed that he was recovering his $1,000 recording equipment, because the camera case allegedly flew out of his backpack while biking the previous day to his girlfriend's place in Bellevue.
"I've been out here all day searching for my camera," Acord told police, also noting the loss of his camera bag on the freeway in a prior Facebook post. "I'm trying to cover the area thoroughly."
Lost my camera bag on the way from Puyallup to Bellevue a couple hours ago. Possibility around kent on hwy 167
Posted by Jeff Demologik Acord on Wednesday, September 9, 2020
Acord was then arrested for implicating himself at the scene of the fire.
"There's nothing you can connect to me to this at all," Acord stated before the video cut out. "I was literally calling this in."
The fire was contained to the interstate and extinguished by the local fire department. Puyallup Police were forced to close the northbound ramp.
Acord was detained with bail set at $1,000 and then transferred from the Pallyup City Jail to the Pierce County Jail where he was booked under a separate burglary charge.
