2015 flag-burner gets 10 days in jail

COEUR d’ALENE — A 31-year-old Coeur d’Alene man who was recorded in a surveillance video setting fire to a U.S. flag that hung in front of a store, was sentenced to 10 days in jail and two years probation.

Kody J. Clark was charged with malicious injury to property for a December 2015 incident in which he was accused of taking a cigarette lighter to Old Glory hanging outside a Coeur d’Alene vape store.

Clark, who was arrested in February on a $10,000 warrant, was sentenced last week in First District Court to 180 days in jail with 170 days suspended, 40 hours on the sheriff’s labor force and a fine of $1,000. Magistrate Judge Mayli Walsh allowed 60 days for attorneys to recommend restitution.

Clark was originally charged with first-degree arson, a felony, that accused him of burning a structure with people inside. The charge was amended to a misdemeanor and Clark accepted a plea bargain in May.

According to a Coeur d’Alene police report, Clark was seen on a video Dec. 12 walking to the front of Cheating Death Discount Vapor on the 500 block of North Fourth Street wearing a hooded sweatshirt and skater shoes.

“He looked around briefly and then pulled out a cigarette lighter and lit the large American flag hanging from a pole attached to the storefront on fire,” Coeur d’Alene Police Officer Josh Schneider wrote in his report. “Once the flag was burning the suspect walked away.”

Schneider drove passed the store after midnight on a Saturday when he saw the flag burning, and ashes and smoldering flag scraps on the sidewalk.

Although the store was closed two people were working inside, and the store’s owner, Todd Brewer, lived in an attached apartment, according to police.

Brewer didn’t recognize the suspect who walked north on Fourth Street, and told police the flag was valued at approximately $200.

“…It was a large, high-quality flag and he was proud of it,” according to the report.

Posting the surveillance video on Facebook resulted in a positive identification, according to police.

Clark reportedly visited the store owner after the incident, apologized for setting the flag on fire and offered to pay for it. Attempts by police to contact Clark were unsuccessful, according to the report. Clark has been ordered to report to jail Oct. 15 to serve his time, which includes work release.