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Man charged in destructive crime spree that includes arson, property damage, auto theft and drug possession

Scott County deputies says 59-year-old Dwayne Edward Roach stole a New Prague Fire Department vehicle, then targeted the home and property of a complete stranger.
Credit: Scott County Sheriff's Office

NEW PRAGUE, Minn. — A Twin Cities man faces a litany of felony charges for allegedly carrying out a destructive crime spree that began with a stolen fire department vehicle. 

Those charges are laid out against 59-year-old Dwayne Edward Roach of Belle Plaine, who prosecutors say damaged property at the home of a complete stranger, then set it on fire. 

A criminal complaint says Scott County Deputies were dispatched shortly before noon on May 4 after reports of a fire in Cedar Lake Township, not far from New Prague. When law enforcement arrived they found heavy smoke billowing from a storage barn on the property with a New Prague Fire Department vehicle parked nearby. 

Investigators say they noticed a man, later identified as Roach, driving a side-by-side UTV while wearing a high visibility New Prague Fire Department jacket. The man drove over a bird house, then parked the UTV near another barn and ran inside. Deputies say Roach came back outside when they approached holding a lighter. 

Law enforcement struggled with Roach before eventually getting him into custody. In the criminal complaint they describe his pupils as dilated and his eyes bloodshot. 

While on scene deputies noticed smoke pouring from the lower level of the home on the property. After fire crews intervened, investigators went into the home with a fire marshal, and learned that the fire had likely started in a downstairs bedroom, where a burned book of matches was located under a pile of burned garments. 

Authorities say the property owner arrived on scene, and told them that a tractor had been stolen from one barn, and crashed through another structure and into an ice fishing house. He stated that no one should have been on the property, and that he did not know the suspect. 

The criminal complaint indicates that while being transported to jail Roach admitted to stealing the fire vehicle, and while being booked reportedly asked if jail staff had found the drugs in his wallet. A search turned up a baggie filled with a substance that later tested positive for methamphetamine. 

Investigators subsequently learned that the fire vehicle had been stolen earlier in the day while parked at the New Prague public utilities building. Surveillance tape reportedly shows Roach entering the building, walking up to a set of controls and turning them all the way up. City utility officials say his actions could have resulted in the New Prague water tower overflowing had alarms not alerted employees to what was going on. 

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