LOVELAND, Colo. — Two small fires were set at a Loveland church late Thursday night. Those fires are now being investigated as attempted arson, and a suspect has been arrested.
Loveland Police said just before midnight Friday, Loveland Fire Rescue received an alarm call for Abiding Love Lutheran Church at 2825 E. 1st St.
When fire crews arrived, they found a window near the front entrance which had been broken out and a small fire was burning, police said. According to LPD, firefighters put out the fire which caused very little damage. Fire crews then called police to assist.
As firefighters and officers searched the church, police said they found evidence of another small fire that had been set in the church's basement. The church's sprinkler system kicked in and extinguished the fire, LPD said. That fire caused "slight damage," police said.
Police said Saturday night that a suspect has been arrested in connection with the fires. They said Darion Sexton, 21, is being held on charges of:
- Possession, use, or removal of an incendiary device
- First-degree arson (two counts)
Anyone who may have information is asked to call Detective Danyel McGraw at 970-962-2258 or tips can be emailed to Danyel.McGraw@cityofloveland.org.
Tips can also be submitted anonymously through Crime Stoppers of Larimer County.
Larimer County Crime Stoppers
Anyone with information about the suspect is asked to call Crime Stoppers at 970-221-6868 or by visiting stopcriminals.org. Tipsters can remain anonymous and may be eligible for a reward of up to $2,000.
Larimer County Crime Stoppers works by assigning a code to people who anonymously submit a tip. Information is shared with law enforcement, and Crime Stoppers is notified at the conclusion of the investigation.
From there, an awards committee reviews the information provided and, if the information leads to an arrest, the tipster will be notified. Rewards can be collected using the code numbers received when the tip was originally submitted.
> More information about Larimer Country Crime Stoppers can be found here.
> Additional Crime Stoppers bulletins can be found here.
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