A man set a small fire overnight inside the Target store in Uptown Minneapolis and was arrested at the scene, police and a witness said.
Police arrived about 3:40 a.m. and soon arrested a 43-year-old man from Burnsville, according to police and Hennepin County jail records.
Firefighters arrived a few minutes later, quickly doused the flames and shut down the sprinkler system, said Assistant Fire Chief Melanie Rucker.
The same man was charged late last month in connection with a road rage incident near Fargo in which vehicles were shot at with a BB gun. He was arrested, charged with a felony and released two days later on his own recognizance.
Officers were sent to the store at W. Lake Street and S. Fremont Avenue on a report of a business burglary. They arrived to see a damaged door and the man inside, said police Sgt. Garrett Parten.
Parten said the man "started the contents of a garbage can on fire ... in the vestibule." The fire burned itself out without spreading. No injuries were reported.
The man was arrested across the street and booked into jail, where he awaits possible felony arson charges. The Star Tribune generally does not identify suspects before they are charged.
Cole Klasi, who lives above the Uptown Target and was forced to briefly leave his apartment because of the incident, said the front glass doors of the store were smashed. He said he saw another retailer nearby with a smashed window.
