PIQUA — He started a fire outside Piqua High School on purpose, then assaulted the police officers who showed up to arrest him for arson.
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Today, he learned he’s going to prison for it.
Grady Egerton walked into court on Monday to learn his punishment.
Instead of going to court, Egerton signed a plea agreement.
Before the judge handed down the sentence, she gave Egerton a chance to speak.
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“It was really dumb, but I did it. And I just hope that I can learn from this,” he said.
He apologized and told the court he feels “a whole bunch of emotions about it” and that he “was going through a lot at the time” of his crimes, including what he described as “deaths,” “heartbreak,” and “traumas.”
“Caused me to lose my mind pretty much,” he said.
As News Center 7 previously reported, police went to Egerton’s apartment to arrest him on a warrant for arson in July 2024.
Egerton pointed what appeared to be a gun at officers. Police then shot at him, but no one was hit with gunfire.
Police later said it turned out Egerton had a CO2 BB gun.
Before that, in this surveillance video, police said Egerton threw a small propane tank at Piqua High School’s entrance, then dropped a lit match in the trash can, which started a fire that made the tank explode.
In court on Monday, the judge told Egerton he’ll have to pay Piqua High School $25,000 in restitution.
He’s been locked up for a year and a half since his arrest.
The judge told him he’ll get credit for that time served toward his prison sentence.
That prison sentence was three to four-and-a-half years.
With his year and a half of jail time credit, he’s already served half his sentence, and he could be out of prison 18 months from now.
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