FORT COLLINS, Colo. — Investigators from multiple law enforcement agencies in northern Colorado are asking for the public’s help to find the person or persons responsible for a series of arson fires that began in late October.
The arsons have been reported in northeast Fort Collins, specifically the TimberVine neighborhood in Fort Collins and the Collins Aire Mobile Home Park area, situated in Larimer County, according to a news release from the sheriff’s office.
“Due to the similarity of cases and close proximity reported in each jurisdiction, investigators are now working together as they believe the same suspect(s) may be responsible for all of these incidents,” a spokesperson for the Larimer County Sheriff’s Office said Wednesday.
The Poudre Fire Authority (PFA) is also helping both agencies investigate the arsons.
The first arson was reported on Oct. 23, when Fort Collins Police Services took a report of a Pride flag that had been burned and caught a chair cushion on fire, according to the sheriff’s office. That same time, firefighters responded to a grass fire in the open space area near the TimberVine neighborhood. Less than an hour later, firefighters and sheriff’s deputies were dispatched to the Collins Aire Mobile Home Park for a vehicle that was fully engulfed by fire. At the scene, first responders also found a burning trash can nearby.
A day later, on Oct. 24, there was a report of graffiti and an American flag that had been burned in the TImberVine neighborhood. The home where this happened is near the open space where the grass fire had occurred the previous day, deputies said Wednesday.
Nearly three weeks later, on Nov. 12, there were four reports of arson from residents in the TimberVine neighborhood: A chair was lit on fire and spread to a residence; a small grass fire was lit in a canal and graffiti was found on a fence nearby; a Pride flag had been burned and the home’s garage had graffiti on it; and the last incident involved a scarecrow which was burned and a chair that was stolen from a home in the area.
Deputies said the Fort Collins police chief and the Larimer County Sheriff are using joint resources “to apprehend this person as soon as possible.”
Law enforcement is also working to determine if any of these crimes are bias-motivated.
Anyone with information about these incidents or possible suspect(s) should contact Fort Collins Police Detective Matt Schuh at (970) 416-8043 or Larimer County Sheriff's Office Investigator Stephen Gates at (970) 498-5169. People who wish to remain anonymous may also contact Crime Stoppers of Larimer County at (970) 221-6868 or www.stopcriminals.org.
