ST PAUL, Minn — Editor's Note: The video above originally aired on March 29.
A 36-year-old man is now facing a felony arson charge in connection to a fire that severely damaged a Lunds and Byerlys in St. Paul on March 29.
According to the criminal complaint filed in Ramsey County, a patrolling officer saw flames coming out of trash bins outside of the Lunds & Byerlys store on Tenth Street in downtown St. Paul. The fire was allegedly too hot for the officer to put out with a fire extinguisher so they called fire crews.
By the time fire crews put out the fire, the building sustained extensive damage to the exterior and smoke from it damaged the interior of the store and came into an apartment above the store through the bathroom window, documents say.
The criminal complaint says $350,000 worth of goods in the store was damaged by the smoke and the total damage estimate is between $500,000 and $800,000.
According to the documents, surveillance video showed a man approaching with a white plastic bag in hand and putting his hand into the recycling bin, which caught on fire shortly after. No one else was seen near the bins between the fire and the time he left.
Regions Hospital officials told investigators that a man matching the suspect's description may have been a patient that night, the criminal complaint says. The suspect was later identified as a 36-year-old Timothy Arsenal of St. Paul, who does not have a permanent address.
Surveillance video from the hospital showed the man leaving the hospital at about 12:50 a.m. with a white plastic bag, wearing the same outfit seen in later surveillance footage.
According to the complaint, Arsenal is in custody of Ramsey County on "other matters," and he was found wearing the same hoodie and a lighter in his possession when he was arrested.
The maximum sentence for felony second-degree arson is ten years in prison and/or a $20,000 fine.
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