A man who investigators say has a grudge against Longmont United Hospital and burned down a home across from the hospital on Monday is the focus of an intense manhunt by police.
Longmont Police Commander Tim Lewis said the man left a note in the badly burned home at 1252 Frontier St. indicating he knew the home belonged to the hospital and was angry with the hospital.
Lewis declined to be more specific and said the full contents of the note are not being released to the public during the investigation.
At 5:39 a.m. Monday, 911 dispatchers received numerous calls that the home, which has been vacant since Dec. 31, was on fire, said Lewis.
When firefighters arrived, they found flames shooting from the home. Although they were able to knock down the blaze in 20 minutes, the home was badly damaged.
Lewis said at least two people who live in the neighborhood said that in the days prior to the fire, a man knocked at their doors, inquiring which homes in the area are owned by the hospital.
One homeowner said the man specifically asked if her home was owned by the hospital and whether the home at 1252 Frontier was owned by the hospital. He also asked if the home at 1252 Frontier was vacant.
A second homeowner said a man knocked at her door and asked similar questions.
Lewis said Longmont police are working the case around the clock because of its seriousness.
“It was a very significant fire,” he said.
Lewis said Longmont United Hospital has served Longmont for decades and it is respected in the community.
He added that hospital officials are being cooperative and are baffled as to why they would be targeted.
Although police are sure that the man who knocked at the two neighborhood homes is the same man, the two women gave slightly different descriptions of the suspect.
One described him as being 40-45 years old, 5 feet 8 or 9 inches tall, with a buzz hair cut that was starting to turn gray. He was described as weighing 200-220 pounds with chunky build. He had a thick neck, oval face and a beer belly. He had a 2-to-3 day growth of beard, smelled bad and sounded mentally confused.
The other woman said he had no facial hair and wore a hat and sunglasses. She described him as “outdoorsy” with a “normal appearance.”
Police released two sketches based on the different recollections.
Anyone with information is asked to call Detective Ed Tinkum at 303-774-4478 or Northern Colorado Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-TIPS or .
Howard Pankratz: 303-954-1939 or hpankratz@denverpost.com.
