A homeless man, who had a prior run-in with an art gallery owner for smearing his poop on a statue, was arrested early Sunday morning for allegedly setting another man on fire at Martin Luther King Park in west Cheyenne.
The Cheyenne Police Department said Kenneth Potter, who is listed as a transient in the police report, was found with a knife and lighters in his possession shortly after they discovered another man who was suffering from severe burn injuries.
Police say the victim was sleeping at Martin Luther King Park when Potter stood over him and began “setting him on fire.”
“The victim began to stand up and dropped a knife which the suspect grabbed and threatened him with,” a spokesperson with the Cheyenne Police Department said.
The victim was transported by ambulance to Cheyenne Regional Medical Center for treatment.
Poop-Smearer
Potter is no stranger to Cheyenne art gallery owner Harvey Deselms.
Deselms told Cowboy State Daily that he had a run-in with Potter right before Cheyenne Frontier Days.
Potter was climbing one of Deselms’ statues in front of his art gallery, which is located in downtown Cheyenne.
When Deselms asked him to get down from the statue, Potter began smearing his own poop on the statue instead.
“He began finger-painting the statue with his own poop and I was really not pleased with that,” Deselms said.
“I was not very kind in telling him to get out of my sight because I was calling the police right away,” he said.
Deselms said the “poop-etrator,” as the art dealer calls him, was never caught by the police.
He went on to say that the statue was not permanently damaged by the poop. “All it took was a hose,” Deselms said.
“That was my first poop incident here at the gallery and hopefully the last,” he added.
The aggravated assault charge is under investigation.
