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.
Man jailed in connection with fire inside Target in Minneapolis' Uptown
The same man is charged in North Dakota with targeting vehicles with a BB gun.
January 24, 2023 at 3:22PM
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.
Target spokesman Joe Unger declined to say whether the suspect was employed by the retailer or associated with the company in any way.
"We appreciate the quick response of the Fire Department, and we're grateful no one was injured," a statement from Unger read. "We are working to repair damage to the building, and the store was able to reopen for business [Tuesday] morning."
A sign on an Uptown Target door indicated that the store's regular opening time of 7 a.m. was delayed until 9 a.m.
The same suspect is charged in Cass County District Court in North Dakota with felony reckless endangerment and two misdemeanors — driving under the influence of drugs and criminal mischief — on accusations that he shot a BB gun at passing vehicles on Interstate 94 near Mapleton.
One of the drivers who was targeted reported a a hole in one of their van's windows.
Law enforcement recovered a .177-caliber CO2 pistol suspected of being the weapon involved in the incident.
The man's release from the Cass County jail without posting bail was conditioned on him enrolling in a drug treatment program.
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