Teen gets four years in St. Paul coffeehouse fire

Judge rejects leniency plea because of nature of crime.

By PAT PHEIFER, Star Tribune

Last update: October 20, 2009 - 8:57 PM

Phuc J.A. Vo was sentenced Tuesday to four years in prison after pleading guilty to first-degree arson in connection with a fire last January that heavily damaged Rudies Coffeehouse, a neighboring business and apartments on W. 7th Street in St. Paul.

Vo's attorney, Steven Coodin, tried to persuade Ramsey County District Judge Teresa Warner that Vo deserved a lesser sentence, arguing that he is only 18, is amenable to probation, had a "spotless record" and now understands the consequences of his actions.

Warner wasn't buying it.

"This is a very serious offense," she said. "One of the things that struck me was the great forethought that went into planning this event. He did this to punish. It was retaliatory."

Vo, of Brooklyn Park, was charged with two counts of first-degree arson after he planted six or seven Molotov cocktails inside Rudies, 1169 W. 7th St., and set them ablaze early Jan. 21.

Vo told police that he considered the owner of Rudies his girlfriend and he had been "deeply hurt and distraught" after she ended their relationship. But later, Vo acknowledged that Bridget Tran had spurned his advances and the two had never had a romantic relationship.

The fire caused more than $300,000 in damage. In a victim-impact statement read in court, Nicholas Soderstrom, co-owner of the Final Bid, a consignment business next door to the coffee shop, noted that seven people sleeping in apartments upstairs could have been killed.

The fire "put everything in jeopardy," Soderstrom wrote. "We have had to start from scratch."

In another statement, Tran wrote that Rudies' customers were like a family and asked the judge to "please take into consideration how the community feels."

Rudies reopened in July.

Warner also ordered Vo to pay restitution and to submit a DNA sample.

Pat Pheifer • 612-741-4992