Denny's customer gets prison for arson spurred by slow service

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SAN ANTONIO — A man who was so dissatisfied with his service at Denny's that he set a Christmas tree on fire while leaving the restaurant was sentenced Monday to eight years in prison.

Christopher Maddocks, 25, pleaded no contest to a second-degree felony arson charge in February in exchange for a sentence of no more than 10 years in prison. Without a plea deal, the offense would have been punishable by up to 20 years.

Besides assessing prison time, state District Judge Raymond Angelini ordered the former airman to pay $221,991.49 in restitution for the fire that shut down the Northeast Side restaurant.

Maddocks, a California native, was arrested in the Dec. 16, 2012, stunt along with fellow airman Ryan Monroe of Albuquerque. Video surveillance footage showed them leaving Denny's together at about 3:40 a.m. that night.

The men weren't identified and arrested until a month after the fire, when an Air Force master sergeant saw the footage on the local TV news and called police. The arson charge against Monroe, 27, was dismissed in September.

Surveillance footage from inside the restaurant showed Maddocks standing up from his table, lighting something on fire, “and placing the burning object in the tree,” according to court documents.

Police interviewed the woman who waited on the men and she said they twice complained about how long it was taking to be served. She told police she was waiting on 20 customers that night.

“She said she was going to try and figure out what was going on with their order and said when she came back, the tree was on fire and the defendants were gone,” authorities said.

mcasady@express-news.net