Eugene Woman Arrested for Pouring Gasoline on Newport State Services Building

A Eugene woman who works for the Oregon Department of Human Services was arrested late Monday after she allegedly poured two gallons of gasoline on the Newport building that houses her own agency's office, then tried to ignite it with a fuel-soaked cigarette.

Bridgette Sherman, 45, was booked into the Lincoln County Jail on charges of Attempted Arson in the First Degree, a Class A felony under Oregon law, following the incident at the Avery Building, 120 NE Avery Street, just before 11:30 p.m. on April 6.

The sequence began when someone alerted Newport Police that a woman had purchased gasoline at a nearby Circle K convenience store and was seen pouring it on the building. When officers arrived, they found Sherman standing within a few feet of an empty 2-gallon gas can, its contents already spread across the exterior and adjacent sidewalk. Officers also recovered a cigarette saturated in gasoline with a visibly burned tip, indicating an attempted ignition. The cigarette failed to light the fuel. The building sustained no damage, and no one was inside at the time.

The Avery Building is a 20,740-square-foot office complex built in 1994 that functions as a primary hub for social services in Lincoln County. Its tenants include the Oregon Department of Human Services, Community Services Consortium, and WorkSource Oregon. The DHS office specifically provides SNAP food assistance and self-sufficiency programs to Lincoln County residents. A successful arson attack would have cut off services for some of the county's most vulnerable families.

The detail investigators uncovered after taking Sherman into custody sharpened the case considerably: she is a current Oregon DHS employee, working for the same agency whose office occupies the building she allegedly tried to burn down. Police have not publicly stated a motive, and the investigation remains ongoing.

The Newport Police Department was assisted at the scene by the Lincoln County Sheriff's Office and the Newport Fire Department. Sherman, a Lane County resident, traveled roughly 60 miles north from Eugene before the alleged incident.

Anyone with information can contact Newport Police Officer Jack Grippin at 541-574-3348 or reach the department through its anonymous tip line.