“A man, a dog, and a golf cart” may sound like the opening to a hilarious joke, but for one Kitsap County homeowner, this setup is no laughing matter. That’s because this very combination appears to be responsible for setting a fire that destroyed a home and a detached garage in the 2700 block of Locker Road SE in Port Orchard, Washington, on Aug. 4, 2026.
Security footage captured the whole incident, which was shared by KOMO News. The video appears to show Shawn Hinson lighting the fire using a torch, which he did from the comfort of his golf cart. Fortunately, the homeowner (who wished to remain anonymous) says his son received an alert from his Ring camera and called his dad to tell him to evacuate the home.
It’s a move the homeowner credits with saving his life.
Now, Hinson is awaiting trial while the homeowner tries to figure out exactly why the 47-year-old would do something like this to his home.
Hinson Has Been Charged With First-Degree Arson and Second-Degree Assault
The police department used the video to identify Hinson, who was riding on the cart with his corgi and two torches, according to KOMO News. Neighbors Dan and Anita Carlson saw the whole thing go down and tried to alert the homeowner to the fire before confronting Hinson.
“I jumped in front of him, and I said, ‘What the heck are you doing?’ And the weirdest thing, he told me, ‘It’s OK, I’m with the fire department.’ I looked at him and said, ‘The heck you are,'” Dan Carlson recalled. The neighbor also alleges that Hinson tried to attack him with one of the torches while charging at him with the golf cart, but fortunately only left a black mark on his shirt.
The 47-Year-Old Was on Drugs at the Time
Anita Carlson said when she first saw Hinson doing donuts in his neighbor’s driveway, she assumed that the driver was dealing with some kind of mechanical failure. Instead, a mix of drugs and alcohol could’ve played a part. According to court filings, Hinson confessed to having ingested marijuana edibles and Jack Daniel’s prior to setting the fire.
While this case is obviously an unusual one for several reasons, arson isn’t exactly as rare as you’d like to think. According to Statista, there were 33,289 cases of arson in 2024. While the most prevalent type of these crimes is filed under “other,” it looks like structures make up the second biggest chunk with 11,531 reported cases.
Although we’re sure knowing that it happens to thousands of people a year does little to comfort the homeowner, hopefully it makes him feel less alone as he navigates rebuilding his home.