JACKSON, Wyo.—Teton County prosecutors charged a Colorado man with first-degree arson on Thursday, saying he intentionally started a fire in a crowded Jackson motel.
Charles William Millen, 57, of Longmont, Colo., told Teton County investigators that he soaked a Bible with an accelerant and left it burning under his bed early Wednesday morning at the Teton Gables Motel, according to court records.
The Jackson Hole News & Guide reports that 40 people evacuated the motel but no one was injured.
Damage was limited mainly to Millen’s room. He was arrested in Sublette County near Pinedale after the fire.
The Longmont (Colo.) Times-Call reports that Colorado authorities also want Millen in connection with a Sunday fire at his home in Longmont.
Teton County Attorney Steve Weichman on Thursday filed a charge of first-degree arson against Millen in circuit court.
Millen remains at the Teton County jail and declined on Thursday to come to the phone to speak to a reporter.
Investigator Slade Ross with the Teton County Sheriffs Office wrote an affidavit filed in court to support the charge against Millen.
According to Ross’s affidavit, Deputy Sheriff Kurt Drumheller responded to the motel fire at about 1:45 a.m. Wednesday.
Drumheller determined that the room where the fire started was registered to Millen. Drumheller also recognized Millen’s address and automobile description from an earlier request from Wyoming Highway Patrol asking law enforcement to be on the lookout for him in regard to the Longmont fire.
Drumheller put out a request for Wyoming law enforcement to watch for Millen. A deputy with the Sublette County Sheriff’s Office pulled him over near Pinedale just after 3 a.m.
Ross stated in his affidavit that Millen told investigators after his arrest that he intentionally started the fire.
The other guests in the motel were allowed back into their rooms around 3 a.m.
