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Last updated on Sunday, June 16, 2013
(BLOOMINGTON) - A Bloomington man has been charged with arson after he attempted to set two fires.
According to Bloomington Police Department Sgt. Joe Crider, police arrested Jason McIntosh on Wednesday.
McIntosh is a suspect in at least two March fires, one on Kirkwood Avenue and another on the Indiana University campus.
On March 15, a 31-year-old employee of The Venue art gallery on South Grant Street told police he saw a male customer, McIntosh, enter the gallery with a black cloth bag. McIntosh allegedly stayed a few minutes and then left the gallery. About 10 minutes later the employee report smelling smoke and the bathroom door locked. After opening the door the employee found a pile of smoldering paint rags in the bathroom.
Crder says officers searched the area for McIntosh, but could not find him.
Then on March 17, police received a call reporting a man with a black cloth bag was at the Indiana Memorial Union.
Then on March 18, the same Venue employee observed McIntosh return to the store. After the employee saw McIntosh the enter the bathroom, he called the police again.
A second witness happened to be at both the Venue and IMU scenes, Crider says, police provided the witness with photos from surveillance cameras, but the witness told police he was not comfortable identifying the man in the photos as McIntosh.
Police questioned McIntosh about the fires, but he denied any involvement.
Crider says on March 19, a second photo line-up was showed to both the Venue employee and the second witness from the Venue and IMU arson attempts. Both identified McIntosh as the person in the photos. Police then requested a warrant for McIntosh's arrest.
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