Man attempted to set fire to package in southwest Cedar Rapids apartment building, police say

May. 28, 2021 4:17 pm, Updated: May. 28, 2021 6:54 pm

Cedar Rapids Police Department cruiser at night with emergency lights (Cropped CRPD photo from November 2019)

CEDAR RAPIDS — A 27-year-old Cedar Rapids man was arrested early Friday, accused of attempting to set fire to a package in an apartment building in southwest Cedar Rapids.

Sawyer Todd Henry faces charges of first-degree arson and public intoxication.

Cedar Rapids police said officers and firefighters were called at 5 a.m. to Kingston Village Apartments, 600 Second St. SW, where witnesses and video surveillance footage showed someone entering the building, taking a tenant’s package from the building’s delivery room and trying to set it on fire.

When he was unable to ignite the package, he set fire to his own sweatshirt and began waving the burning sweatshirt in the building’s common areas. He then left the building.

Investigators identified Henry as a suspect, and an officer located him on the Eighth Avenue Bridge a short time later.

Police said Henry was found with a disposable lighter and that he admitted to officers he’d been drinking.

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