After a judge decided there was enough evidence for Jason Hobby to face a first-degree arson charge in connection with the Alexander Mountain Fire, his lawyers said they planned to appeal the ruling to the Colorado Supreme Court. The decision was announced during a hearing Wednesday in 8th Judicial District Court in Fort Collins.
Hobby, 50, was arrested Sept. 10, 2024 in connection to the Alexander Mountain Fire, which was first reported July 29 and burned 10,000 acres west of Loveland. He is facing charges of first-degree arson, a class 3 felony; two counts of impersonating a peace officer, a class 5 felony; false imprisonment, a class 5 felony; menacing with a real or simulated weapon, a class 5 felony; and impersonating a public servant, a class 2 misdemeanor, according to court records.
Judge Sarah Cure made her decision that there was probable cause after a two-part preliminary hearing, held July 31 and Oct. 8, where the court heard from Loveland Police Department Detective Justin Atwood, who was an investigator with the Larimer County Sheriff’s Office at the time, and U.S. Forest Service Special Agent Hannah Nadeau about their involvement in the investigation.
The fire, which was determined by Nadeau to have started at a horseshoe shaped fire pit, burned parts of the Sylvan Dale Ranch and over a thousand acres the ranch’s owners were planning on donating to the Heart-J Center for Experimental Learning, a plan investigators were told Hobby was against. Hobby was employed as a security officer at the ranch until he was removed in July 2024 after repeated incidents with other staff members and coworkers.
“Mr. Hobby made statements to a variety of people about a motive to burn and destroy the property and structures owned by the Heart-J Center and Sylvan Dale Ranch,” prosecution attorney Erin Butler said Oct. 8. “Specifically that the property should burn rather than get transferred from Sylvan Dale into the Heart-J Center.”
Investigators found that Hobby had represented himself as a firefighter, despite having no formal credentials. Hobby worked for the Southwest Incident Command Team during the fire, but not in a firefighting capacity, Atwood said, rather assisting with communications and refrigerators for fire crews.
When questioned by the defense, Atwood said, “Anybody could have started this fire,” and testified that boot prints found at the scene could not be determined by experts to match Hobby’s. Nadeau said the fire had to have been caused by a human or fire starting device. Investigators did find matches and pyro putty in Hobby’s home, but when questioned by defense, Atwood said that having incendiary devices is “just one element” that goes into accusing someone of arson. Pyro putty is a waterproof fire starter.
“The expert witness could not say that this was incendiary, or whether it was just a camper who recklessly allowed a campfire to escape from them,” defense attorney Leslie Goldstein said Oct. 8.
In her order regarding the preliminary hearing, Cure wrote that the court is required to view evidence presented in “the light most favorable to the prosecution,” adding that they introduced evidence that the fire did not start of natural causes and could have been intentional, even though an incendiary device was not found at the scene. She added that the prosecution presented evidence that Hobby was familiar with the site, had conflicts with people at the Sylvan Dale Ranch, and was in a rush to get to Wyoming around the start of the fire, along with other reasons.
She did acknowledge that the defense provided “compelling arguments that cast doubt on the defendant’s involvement,” referring to Atwood and Nadeau’s lack of knowledge in parts of the case, including not knowing whether the fire was intentional, an escaped campfire, or when the fire actually began (Nadeau determined it could have began at any point July 27 to July 29), but ultimately said the defense’s doubt was based on disputes of fact, and that she must consider all “reasonable inferences in the light most favorable to the prosecution.”
Hobby’s lawyer, Mark Savoy, said that he wanted to make sure the case is heard by the Supreme Court before trial.
Once the appeal is filed with the Supreme Court, the panel of judges could decide not to take Hobby’s case or give deference to Cure’s decision. If that occurs, Hobby will return to court in Fort Collins and proceed to trial if an agreement isn’t met sooner.
If the Supreme Court rules that Cure abused her discretion in her order, then the case will also come back to the courtroom, but the first-degree arson charge will be dismissed due to a lack of probable cause, said defense attorney Matt Pring after the hearing Wednesday. In that case, Hobby’s remaining charges could be settled in a plea deal or in trial.
A status conference is scheduled for Dec. 3 at 10 a.m. for updates in the case, but it may be a while before results of the Supreme Court appeal are known.