A transient claiming to be doing God's work by starting a fire in Ogden was arrested by police Tuesday.
Police said the man first started causing trouble in the Kokomo Club, a bar on Ogden's historic 25th Street. He was throwing chairs and pocket change around the bar, Lt. Scott Sangberg said Wednesday. "He went outside, and he tipped over a tree in front the club and uprooted a second tree in front of Panhandler's," he said. "Someone asked him why, he said, 'God did it.' "
Police officers found the man outside the Salvation Army at 26th and Grant Avenue, walking away from a fire that had started burning on a wooden sidewalk frame just outside the building. Officers quickly put out the fire and called the fire department.
"He said, 'God's starting fires down here,' " Sangberg said.
Officers said they have had a long history with the man, who suffers from mental illness. Sangberg said they do not believe that he is involved in any other fires, including a recent fire that destroyed the Shupe-Williams Candy Co.
"This was something spontaneous that resulted from his mental illness," Sangberg said.
He was booked into the Weber County Jail on investigation of arson, theft, disorderly conduct and city offenses related to the downing of the trees.