Fire guts Carpinteria facility that recently underwent a $75,000 renovation.

The Santa-Barbara News-Press
26.1.1994

By PAMELA LOPEZ-JOHNSON

While being handcuffed before dawn Tuesday, Linda Haggard allegedly told authorities she set a fire that gutted the Carpinteria Library because "books are evil."

Haggard, 31, a geology major at UCSB since 1983, was found outside the newly renovated library by Santa Barbara County sheriff's deputies called to the scene of the 4:15 a.m. blaze.

Haggard admitted setting the fire, according to sheriff's Detective Bruce Pixley.

"Yeah, I lit the fire," Haggard said, according to Pixley. When asked why, she replied "Because books are evil."

Haggard was being held Tuesday night at County Jail in lieu of $30,000 bail, on suspicion of arson and attempted burglary, Pixley said.

The fire, apparently fueled by gasoline started inside the children's wing of the 1,000-square-foot building at 5141 Carpinteria Ave., said Battalion Chief Norman C. Kneeland of the Carpinteria/Summerland Fire District.

The blaze quickly "flashed over all of the books," he said.

Structural damage to the red-tile and stucco building was estimated at $25,000, Kneeland said.

Librarian Carol Lingham told detectives she recalled seeing Haggard at the book drop outside the library shortly after 6 p.m. Monday, minutes alter someone tried to break in.

The library had just closed and Lingham was checking in books when someone bashed in the window, stuck a hand inside and opened the front door. When the person saw someone was inside, she bolted.

Lingham walked outside and confronted a woman she later identified as Haggard. At that time, Haggard denied breaking in, saying she was just returning books.

At around 5 a.m. Tuesday, Lingham recognized Haggard, who was standing on the corner of Carpinteria and Walnut avenues, near the Fire scene.

Authorities asked her what she was doing at the library the night before.

"Oh, when I tried to break in to start the fire?" she replied, according to Pixley.

A clerk at the AM/PM mini-market on Casitas Pass Road told detectives a woman matching Haggard's description came in at 2 a.m. She bought a gas can, gasoline and a six-pack of-Miller beer, Pixley said.

A gas can like the ones sold at the mini-market was found at the fire scene, Pixley said. A pack of Miller beer was discovered on the passenger's side inside Haggard's car, he added.

After being arrested, Pixley said, Haggard told authorities she poured gasoline over the south side of the building and set it ablaze. Then she went over to the other side and did the same thing, he said.

Tuesday afternoon, charred pages from blackened children's books flew in the stiff breeze outside the library. Most of the 16,500 books were destroyed, Lingham said. The county owns the library and the City runs it.

In May, the Friends of the Carpinteria Library completed a $75,000 renovation project there. The club recently had bought $20,000 worth of new books, most of which were burned. Club members spent five years raising the money.

"I have this horrible pain in the pit of my stomach," said Joanne Schoenfeld, who last month retired as club president. "Just alter we finished everything. It looked so beautiful, so wonderful and clean. And the community so wholeheartedly supported the project."

On Tuesday, 32 fifth-graders from nearby Main School sat on the lawn in front of the charred building. Their teacher, Liz Lopez Henderson, brought them there to express their feelings about the Fire.

"Why would they do that?" asked Juan Perez, 11. "Whoever did this was not thinking about other people."

Haggard had recently become emotionally unstable, said her father, Richard T. Haggard of Goleta. Last month, she told her parents she was going Christmas shopping and instead left town. She was declared a missing person and was found this month using her credit card at a Denny's restaurant in King City, 50 miles north of San Luis Obispo.

Haggard said his daughter, who is a full-time student and lives at home, began acting strangly alter receiving her first B in early December. She usually gets As, he said.

"She got a B and it just flipped her out," Haggard said. "We know she isn't rational."

Relatives said they first noticed Haggard was becoming emotionally unstable alter she joined the Church [sic] of Scientology two months ago.

"This is when she started going haywire," said one relative, who wished to remain anonymous. Family members attributed her alleged comment about the evils of books to the church.

A Scientology official dismissed that conclusion.

"That's totally false," Said the Rev. [sic] Lee Holzinger.

The church [sic], which has a center on Santa Barbara's State Street, strongly encourages literacy, Holzinger said.

Holzinger said Haggard was involved in a "purification program" [NarConon] in which she tried to rid her body of toxins. The program involved rigorous exercise and a healthly diet. She showed no signs of being a troubled person, he said.

"She always seemed happy, bright and energetic," he said. "She was always smiling."

Upon hearing of his daughter's arrest, Haggard said:

"Something is wrong. She's got something terribly wrong with her. We are going to get someone to look at her."

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