ST PAUL, Minn. — A 25-year-old Long Lake man was sentenced on Thursday to five years in prison for aiding and abetting arson to a government building in Dakota County back in May 2020.
According to a release from U.S. Attorney Erica H. MacDonald's office, Garrett Ziegler pleaded guilty to driving himself and Fornandous Cortez Henderson, who was also charged with arson and possession of unregistered destructive devices, to the Dakota County Western Service Center in the early hours on May 29, 2020.
Court documents say Ziegler and Henderson broke multiple windows using baseball bats and "threw multiple Moltov cocktails into the broken windows."
According to the criminal complaint, the Apple Valley Police Department was dispatched to a fire alarm at the Dakota County Western Service Center.
Upon arrival, officers observed broken windows, smoke, and flames coming from the west side of the building.
Officers then found a set of keys for a Ford Fiesta parked in a neighboring business’ parking lot, the complaint reads.
The complaint states officers executed a search warrant on the vehicle, which was registered to Ziegler, and found several items, including liquor bottles, a store receipt dated May 28, 2020 for three bandanas, partially full and empty boxes of push pins, an empty cardboard box for twelve Ball brand mason jars, an empty Kingsford brand lighter fluid bottle, isopropyl alcohol bottles, a plastic jar containing a clear unidentified liquid and T-pins, and a store receipt dated May 27, 2020 for nail polish remover, prosecutors said.
