A former Norfolk middle school teacher who admitted to starting a fire last year that caused substantial damage to a neighbor’s home with the family inside was sentenced Friday to 10 years in prison.
The term issued to Ryan Lee Elza by Circuit Judge Everett Martin was well over the maximum recommended by state sentencing guidelines, which had suggested no more than two years and 10 months.
Martin also ordered Elza, 43, to have no contact with the couple who owned the house at the time, Patrick and Tiffany McGee, and to begin paying restitution to them once he’s released.
Elza was an English teacher at Lake Taylor Middle School and lived in an apartment building across the street from the McGees’ West Ghent home when the fire was set June 11, 2021.
He was arrested about three weeks later, and pleaded guilty earlier this year to arson of an occupied dwelling and felony destruction of property.
Investigators determined the blaze — one of many suspicious fires in the area over a 16-month period — was started by charcoal briquettes that had been lit under Tiffany McGee’s car. The blaze quickly spread to Patrick McGee’s car, then to their house.
Patrick McGee testified during Friday’s sentencing hearing that on the night of the fire, he’d fallen asleep while watching a movie with his wife and their two young sons.
“I had just drifted off when I heard my wife screaming wildly,” he said.
When he looked outside, he saw both their cars engulfed in flames, as well as part of the house. The couple grabbed their sons, ran out their back door, and gathered with neighbors. All appeared to be distraught by the fire, he said, except for one.
“I looked up and I saw a man on a balcony,” McGee said, referring to Elza. “He appeared to just be watching. He was just quietly sitting there and watching.”
As McGee, a former Navy SEAL, got closer to Elza, he said the man started screaming at him. He complained that McGee had never asked about his military service, or about his family’s car that had been destroyed in a fire about a week earlier.
McGee said he recognized Elza from another bizarre encounter. That time, McGee said he’d noticed a car parked nearby that had two flat tires and appeared to be abandoned. He opened it and started looking in the glove box when Elza drove up and confronted him.
The car belonged to Elza’s wife; he was upset that McGee was looking in it. McGee said Elza asked him how he’d like it if Elza had done something similar to his wife’s car.
Tiffany McGee also testified, telling the judge about the trauma the fire caused their family. They moved away from the area, she said, and got counseling. She was running two businesses at the time of the fire, but gave up one because it had become too much of a burden in the aftermath.
Elza’s father and mother flew from San Antonio to attend Friday’s sentencing. Alan Elza testified about the troubles his son faced while growing up with learning disabilities and mental health problems.
“It’s hard for us to imagine our son would commit these crimes,” Alan Elza said.
Ryan Elza apologized for his actions before his sentence was issued. He said he didn’t intend to hurt anyone and blamed much of his troubles on his alcohol problem and mental health issues, which include bipolar disorder and schizophrenia.
“I feel really horrible about what I’ve done,” he said. “I wanted to damage property but I didn’t want to hurt anyone.”
Jane Harper, jane.harper@pilotonline.com
