Trash arsonist pleads guilty

By MATT WUNSCHE
and SUSIE XU
Collegian Staff Writers

State College resident David Beer pleaded guilty to 25 counts of reckless endangerment yesterday. He was sentenced to three to eight years in prison and ordered to pay restitution for damages the fires caused, according to a plea bargain arrangement.

The charges stem from a series of fires he set in the State College area between April and September 1998, including 22 dumpster and recycling bin fires, one building fire, one vehicle fire and one debris fire.

Centre County Judge Thomas K. Kistler sentenced Beer to terms of one to two years for each of two counts of reckless endangerment and six months to 2 years for two other counts of reckless endangerment, all to be served consecutively.

For the remaining counts, Beer was sentenced to one to two years to be served concurrently with the first count of reckless endangerment.

Kistler did not fine Beer because he said he feared a fine would interfere with Beer's ability to make restitution payments. Centre County District Attorney Ray Gricar said the payments will be of a considerable sum, although the exact amount has not been determined yet.

Gricar said he is pleased Beer decided to commit to the plea agreement, adding a trial could easily have taken two weeks.

"It was an enormously complex case. . . . (Beer) had kind of a mentality that he was playing with the police," Gricar said.

Gricar said he expects Beer to serve about six years of the sentence, but he will be reviewed for parole in three years.

Beer will be held in Centre County Prison until he is transferred to the state prison, where he will serve the rest of his term. He was given credit for 112 days already served while awaiting trial.

"There's a great deal of satisfaction to bring (the work of) a multi-agency task force to a successful conclusion," Sgt. John Wilson of the State College Police Department said.

Wilson was referring to a task force including representatives from local and state law enforcement agencies along with businesses and civilians.

Together, the task force engaged in a six- to seven-month investigation taking hundreds of hours, Wilson said.

"This was really a community-based task force," he said, "Our job (was) to bring the person responsible to justice."