Police Make Arrest After 7 Intentionally Set Fires
By Stan Bush
LONGMONT, Colo. (CBS4) - Longmont police have made an arrest in an arson investigation over the weekend where seven fires were set along the St. Vrain Greenway.
Police announced on Monday night that they arrested Joshua Bolt, 39, in the case.
One of the first people to see one of the fires was Kali Miller. She ran outside the Left Hand Brewery where she works on Sunday night and called authorities when a customer said a fire was closing in on their building.
"As I was on the phone with them I saw there was another fire just behind our pilot system," she said.
Miller and another employee grabbed a garden hose to fight the flames until fire trucks arrived. They were working to protect Left Hand's new experimental beer lab. No one was injured.
Miller says she's angry knowing someone set the fires on purpose, putting the brewery and the livelihood of employees at risk.
"We're employee owned and as an owner, seeing a fire close to the brewhouse was pretty frightening," said Miller.
Longmont police arrested Bolt less than 24 hours after the fires were set. Police said they had been following a strong lead.
In June cars were intentionally set on fire in a nearby Longmont neighborhood. Police have not said if Bolt is a suspect in that case.
"There's definitely similarities in the randomness of the event," says Deputy Longmont Police Chief Jeff Satur. "The short timespan is consistent."
Bolt was arrested on seven counts of second degree arson.
One witness told investigators that Bolt said he was setting the fires as retaliation because he had been in a fight with homeless people.
Stan Bush is a general assignment reporter at CBS4. His stories can be seen on CBS4 News at 10. Read his bio and follow him on Twitter @StanBushTV.
