A man accused of setting a fire near the U.S. Air Force Academy on the Pike National Forest this summer is due to be arraigned Thursday.
Twenty-two-year-old Michael Anthony Penn is charged with setting timber afire and damaging U.S. property by fire on Aug. 19.
The U.S. attorney’s office in Denver says he was arrested in Las Vegas and was transferred to Denver, where he made an initial appearance in federal court on Monday without an attorney.
The fire burned about 60 acres. Court documents say a suspicious vehicle near the scene was registered to Penn’s girlfriend. Three unrelated witnesses reported seeing Penn in the area around the time, and when investigators went to question him, they allegedly found soot marks and burn holes on his clothes.
