A Mexican man who federal prosecutors say is illegally in the United States was arrested Wednesday for allegedly starting a dumpster fire outside a Cheyenne auto body shop Sept. 16.
Alejandro Gutierrez Munoz was scheduled to make his first appearance before U.S. Magistrate Judge Scott P. Klosterman Thursday, and prosecutors are asking that he remain jailed as the case proceeds.
The fire started behind the Crash Champions Collision Repair shortly after 8:30 p.m., after surveillance cameras captured a man gathering cardboard, garbage and pieces of wood in the area.
At about 8:33 p.m., a small fire became visible in the pile. Within minutes, flames were climbing the building.
The flames spread up the side of Crash Champions. Smoke entered the collision repair shop and damaged customers' vehicles, the federal complaint says.
Cheyenne Fire Rescue extinguished the blaze.
Cheyenne Fire Chief Andrew Dykshorn told Cowboy State Daily on Thursday he fire remains under active investigation. The department declined to release investigative records while the probe continues.
An employee at Crash Champions confirmed the Sept. 16 fire occurred but referred additional questions to the company’s corporate office.
Cowboy State Daily has requested more information about the extent of the damage, including how many customer vehicles were affected and whether the fire disrupted operations, but did not hear back by publication.
Zyn Can, Green Lighter
When investigators returned the next day, they began piecing together the man's movements using surveillance cameras from Crash Champions and a business directly across the street.
Its cameras showed the man walking onto the property before the fire.
Investigators searched around one of the company's trucks and found a burned Zyn nicotine-pouch container beneath its diesel exhaust fluid tank, along with a lime-green lighter, the complaint says.
Both were collected as evidence.
Investigators began looking around places in Cheyenne where people without permanent housing were known to congregate, including railroad tracks and Holliday Park.
On Sept. 17 — the day after the fire — investigators spotted a man at the park who they believed resembled the person captured on surveillance footage.
When Cheyenne police took Munoz into custody, officers found a lime-green lighter during a search.
He was identified as Munoz and taken to the Cheyenne Police Department, where investigators interviewed him in Spanish.
Green Notebook
During that interview, investigators say Munoz acknowledged being around the dumpster the previous night.
He also allegedly told them he hears someone named “Olivia” inside his head who tells him to do things.
Munoz told investigators Olivia had instructed him to start the fire.
They also asked him about a green notebook.
Munoz said the notebook contains records of illegal acts he has committed along with illegal acts he intends to commit.
Munoz also allegedly told investigators he is a Mexican citizen and was illegally in the United States. Federal prosecutors subsequently asserted in their detention motion that he is illegally in the country.
Federal prosecutors argue he poses a serious risk of fleeing and a danger to the community.
Faces Up To 20 Years
Munoz was federally arrested Wednesday.
Prosecutors are asking the court to keep him in custody while the case proceeds.
The government's detention motion also characterizes fire as a dangerous weapon for the purposes of federal detention law.
Court records show an interpreter has been requested for Munoz's court appearance.
The government has asked his detention hearing be continued for three days.
Munoz is charged with malicious damage to property by fire.
If convicted, the federal charge carries a mandatory minimum of five years and up to 20 years in prison, along with a potential fine of up to $250,000.
Kolby Fedore can be reached at kolby@cowboystatedaily.com.
