Brooklyn Park Salvation Army seeking winter coats after fire damages donations
Surveillance footage shows a man piling donated coats onto a pew in the chapel and lighting it on fire, according to a Salvation Army spokesperson. (FOX 9)
BROOKLYN PARK, Minn. (FOX 9) - Brooklyn Park police have arrested a man on suspicion of arson after a Salvation Army worship and service center was broken into, vandalized and set on fire Thursday night, the day before a community coat drive.
Brooklyn Park police and fire responded to a burglary alarm at the center at 10:48 p.m. and arrived to find smoke coming from a fire in the church, which was quickly put out, according to a press release from the Brooklyn Park Police Department.
Surveillance footage shows the man piling a chair and donated coats, intended for Friday’s event, onto a pew in the chapel and lighting it on fire, according to a Salvation Army spokesperson. The man also broke most of the building’s windows and vandalized the office areas and portions of the food shelf.
Officers detained the 33-year-old suspect at the scene and reviewed surveillance footage showing a person wearing the same clothing breaking into the church and lighting the fire.
The Salvation Army estimates that the fire caused at least $500,000 worth of damage.
Investigators believe the man who set a fire in the chapel of the Brooklyn Park Salvation Army also broke most of the building's windows, vandalized the office areas and portions of the food shelf. (Photo provided)
All the winter coats in the facility sustained smoke damage. The Salvation Army is asking the public to donate coats so the families who signed up to receive them can still get them before the temperature drops. Coats of all sizes are needed and can be dropped off next week at the service center at 10011 Noble Parkway in Brooklyn Park.
"This has been devastating to our staff here," said Captain Josh Polanco, who leads the Brooklyn Park service center. "Our food shelf here is fairly new, and membership at our church has been growing. But we will make the necessary repairs, because the families in the community rely on us for assistance."
Police say they have not established the suspect’s motive. He was arrested and taken to the Hennepin County Adult Detention Center, where he remains in custody, pending charges of second-degree arson, second-degree burglary and felony damage to property.
The suspect has a history of mental illness and has been committed to an institution at least twice — once in 2017 and then again in September 2020. He has yet to be formally charged.