The Coupeville marshal staked out public restrooms Friday night and caught a suspect in a series of bathroom-related arsons, according to court documents.

Ryan T. Parish appeared in Island County Superior Court telephonically over the weekend. The judge found probable cause existed to believe he committed the crimes of two counts of arson in the second degree.

The judge set Parish’s bail at $80,000.

Parish was previously charged with arson following a string of arsons on South Whidbey in 2012. He was convicted of reckless burning.

Since June of this year, there have been seven arson fires of restrooms and port-a-potties set on Friday nights in areas from Greenbank to Coupeville, Marshal Bo Miller wrote in his report on the case.

Miller was dressed in plain clothes while doing surveillance of public restrooms on Northeast Alexander Street on Oct. 27. His report notes that the three of the four restrooms had previously been damaged by an arson fire, with two being restored and one still closed for repairs.

After checking the restrooms, the marshal watched the restrooms from the Coupeville Library for a time and then went outside. As he was walking, he saw a pickup that was identified in the previous arson drive up. After going behind some shrubs, he heard a restroom door close; he called ICOM dispatch to report what was happening.

Miller then walked to the town parking lot and concealed himself behind two portable toilets. When the suspect, later identified as Parish, walked out of the restroom, the marshal quickly went inside and found a toilet roll on fire, he wrote in his report.

The marshal went out, drew his service weapon and arrested Parish, the report states. The fire department responded to put out the fire and confirmed that an accelerant had been used.

The report states that video evidence showed that Parish was a suspect in a Sept. 22 fire of the same restroom, as well as six additional fires “set following similar circumstances,” the report states.