PORT TOWNSEND — Having put the criminal case to rest, the co-owner of Aldrich’s grocery store says a civil suit is still necessary to recover money lost in the accidentally set 2003 fire.
“Our net loss was about $1 million, so it seems appropriate for some liability to be paid to us,” David Hamilton said Wednesday.
He added that he and his partner, Jonathon Ryweck, are merely trying to get an insurance settlement.
“It’s surely not punitive,” said Hamilton.
“It’s just we were asleep at home and all of a sudden we lost a million dollars.”
Nonetheless, the business partners were instrumental in persuading Jefferson County Prosecuting Attorney Juelie Dalzell to drop felony charges against two of the three teenagers responsible for the fire.
Recycling bin embers
The Aug. 4, 2003, fire that razed the 114-year-old grocery was caused by burning embers left in a newspaper recycling bin, investigators concluded.
Three teens had been at the bin a few hours earlier. One was granted immunity from prosecution after coming forward with information about the fire.
Charges against the remaining two, a boy and girl, now 15, were dismissed by a visiting Clallam County judge based on Dalzell’s and the business partners’ recommendation.
The PDN does not identify juveniles involved in criminal court cases, unless they are tried as adults.