Man sentenced to probation, work release in Longmont arson case

Mitchell Byars, Daily Camera, Boulder, Colo.
·2 min read

Feb. 7—A man accused of starting one fire and attempting to start another at Cloverbasin Village apartments in Longmont was sentenced to work release and probation.

Jeffrey Shaw, 41, was sentenced by Boulder District Judge Nancy Salomone on Jan. 31 to four years of probation with nine months of work release as a condition.

Shaw pleaded guilty in October to first-degree arson, a Class 3 felony and the most serious of the charges filed against Shaw in the case.

The plea did not include any sentence stipulations, but Boulder County District Attorney's Office spokeswoman Shannon Carbone said prosecutors asked for four years in prison followed by 18 months of work release and four years of probation.

According to an affidavit, surveillance footage captured Shaw breaking a window at the Cloverbasin leasing office, 630 Peck Drive, at 1:09 a.m. April 10, 2021.

After breaking the window, Shaw put a standing ashtray and sticks into the building and lit them on fire. He then faced the security camera and flipped it off.

Surveillance footage caught Shaw trying to do the same thing at a pool shop nearby, but he was unable to light the fire before he was scared off by a witness.

According to the affidavit, the fire caused more than $8,000 in damage to the leasing office.

Both the investigating officer and the apartment manager recognized Shaw's face from the surveillance footage. The manager said Shaw had been living in the complex but had recently been told he was delinquent due to late rent payments.

Longmont police said Shaw was a suspect in several other fires set across the city. He was also arrested in 2017 as the suspect in a series of fires, and while the charges were later dropped police said he was the only suspect ever identified in the case.

His criminal history dates back at least to 1998, when he was 16 and pleaded guilty to driving while ability impaired. He also has a 1999 arson conviction as well as other cases of burglary, possession of contraband and disorderly conduct, according to online court records.

At the time of the 2021 offense, Shaw was on probation and a deferred sentence for a 2019 burglary case.