Cañon City police arrest man accused of setting two separate fires near museum and local café
Celeste Springer
CAÑON CITY, Colo. (KRDO) — The Cañon City Police Department says they’ve arrested a man who set two different fires during an apparent arson spree around town.
According to police, they were called to the Cañon City Museum just after midnight for a brush fire. Police say they arrived before the fire department, and were able to hold it off with a fire extinguisher until firefighters arrived.
Police say the suspect was caught on surveillance video setting fire to brush along a fence. They say they identified him as 34-year-old Charles Fenstermacher because they had gotten an earlier call about him.
While at the scene of the museum, police say they got another call about a different fire at the Happy Endings Caboose Café.
Once again, officers arrived and used another fire extinguisher to keep the fire from spreading.
The police department says a patrol sergeant passed along the suspect’s description to a local department of corrections search team that happened to have been conducting training in the area.
“[The patrol sergeant] was able to leverage the DOC team as a force multiplier,” read a release by the department.
At 2:35 a.m., the search team spotted him, and the police department says he was taken into custody by their officers.
Fenstermacher was charged with one felony and one petty offense, which are detailed below:
2nd Degree Arson $2,000-$5,000(CRS 18-4-103(1)(2)(d)) — Class 6 Felony
2nd Degree Arson under $300(CRS 18-4-103(1)(2)(a) — Petty Offense
He is being held on a no-bond hold, pending court advisements, the police said.