Haysville man arrested for arson after allegedly setting gas station rug on fire
Police arrested a 30-year-old Haysville man who they say poured gasoline on a gas station rug and lit it on fire.
Robert Scott Ward was jailed on suspicion of one count of arson Wednesday in the early morning incident outside of the Presto Convenience Store at 515 N. Seneca. Police and firefighters who responded to a call about the fire found Ward there and arrested him around 4:30 a.m., Wichita police spokesman Officer Charley Davidson said.
Davidson said Ward’s mental health may have played a role in his decision to set the fire. But it wasn’t immediately clear why he did it, he said.
Davidson said no one was hurt and there wasn’t any extensive damage to the gas station building. Ward wasn’t a customer or inside the store prior to setting the fire, he said. The gas station was open for business at the time.
Ward was being held in the Sedgwick County Jail in lieu of $20,000 bond. He had not been formally charged as of Wednesday morning.
This story was originally published November 20, 2019 at 12:12 PM.
