Woman seen in KMBC video attempting to set fire to proposed ICE facility sentenced to prison
By JoBeth Davis
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GRANDVIEW, Mo. (KMBC) — The woman seen on KMBC video trying to set fire to a south Kansas City warehouse has been sentenced to prison.
Dara S. O’Connor, 30, was sentenced to 24 months in prison in federal court Wednesday followed by two years of supervised release. O’Connor was seen on KMBC’s video using lighter fluid and other items as a “molotov cocktail” to set fire to the warehouse, which had been proposed as a possible immigration detention center, at 49 Crossing in south Kansas City.
In addition, O’Connor has been ordered to pay $43,612 for damages as a result of using “unregistered destructive devices.”
O’Connor previously pleaded guilty to one count of knowingly possessing two destructive devices that were not registered in the National Firearms Registration and Transfer Record related to this incident back in May.
KMBC 9 News was on the scene reporting that the proposed sale of the warehouse to the U.S. Government had been canceled when reporter Andy Alcock saw a woman drive up, park in a spot near our marked news vehicle, and walk over to the warehouse.
Our crews rolled video as she doused a small section on the building’s south side in fluid.
From there, video shows she went to work attempting to use matches to light the fluid on the building’s windows and on rocks on the ground outside. She then used a strip of fabric of some type to spread the fire to two additional windows, continuing to spread some type of accelerant to keep the blaze going.
Alcock dialed 911 as our photographer continued to record. At one point, the woman could be seen throwing the plastic bottle of accelerant, later identified as lighter fluid, at the fire, collecting a bag of items she left in the middle of the parking lot, and sitting on the curb outside of the building, all while KMBC’s camera rolled.
The woman waited for a period of time before she walked back across the parking lot near where our crews were working, got into a gray four-door passenger vehicle, and drove away.
In a news release Wednesday, authorities noted O’Connor has already paid restitution in this case.
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