OAK PARK : Man Gets 5 Years for Setting Home Afire

An Oak Park man accused of dousing himself with gasoline and setting his house afire was sentenced Tuesday to five years in prison after his wife told a judge that she fears he still will try to harm her.

Ventura County Superior Court Judge Charles W. Campbell Jr. turned down Richard Rose’s request for probation, saying the man’s actions were too serious for him not to go to prison.

“This story is just horrible,” the judge said.

Two family dogs died during the Sept. 29 blaze. After arguing with his wife, Rose became suicidal and set fire to the garage and stairwell of his family’s Pesto Way home, prosecutors said.

When two neighbors tried to stop him, Rose threatened them with a knife and threw gasoline on one man, prosecutors said. After being trapped by fire in the upstairs portion of the home, Rose decided he did not want to die and jumped out a second-floor window, prosecutors said.

Rose, 38, pleaded guilty to one count of arson in November. Prosecutors dismissed one count of brandishing a knife and one count of animal cruelty against him.

Rose’s wife had filed for divorce before the incident.

Deputy Dist. Atty. Richard E. Simon argued for the five-year prison term, calling Rose’s actions “extremely egregious.”

But Deputy Public Defender Steven Lipson pleaded for probation. He noted that Rose had no prior criminal record, adding that drugs and alcohol caused the defendant to become “basically flipped out.”

“The only thing you can say is he acted completely crazy,” Lipson said.

Campbell could have sentenced Rose to from three to eight years. He cited the defendant’s early plea for the midterm sentence.