The suspected arsonist has a history...

During my hiatus from the Blogosphere, we had a major event here in The South of Iowa - the local bar was set on fire. Wojo's Restaurant and Lounge, a favorite of local farmers, retired farmers, and drunk farmers, was set on fire early in the morning of February 28. Here's a news story about the fire.

Well, our hardworking sheriff's department has captured the suspected arsonist. It appears that this arsonist wasn't the brightest match in the book (pun intended), as he had in his possession a microwave that was stolen from the restaurant when they served a search warrant on him.

Digging a little further, we find that Evan Godfrey, 18, the suspect, went on a crime spree after his fire buggery. Here's what the Iowa Courts Online has listed for him:

County Date Offense
Clarke 3/19/2007 SPEEDING 55 OR < (11 THRU 15 OVER)
Clarke 3/3/2007 (1,3)WINDSHIELD/WINDOW REQUIREMENTS
Decatur 3/10/2007 INTERFERENCE W/OFFICIAL ACTS
Lucas 3/15/2007 VIOLATION - FINANCIAL LIABILITY COVERAGE
Madison 3/7/2007 SPEEDING 55 OR < (6 THRU 10 OVER)
Wayne 3/22/2007 BURGLARY 1ST DEGREE - 1983 (FELB)

So, basically between his burglary/arson on February 28 and his arrest on March 20 (booked on the 22nd), Godfrey was cited/arrested FIVE times. Granted, they were small issues compared to setting a town landmark on fire, but they all add up:

It was Evan's way of saying, "Help me, I need love. Won't someone intervene?"

Heh, heh, heh. Not quite.

Evan apparantly just turned 18 back in January. One story I was told was that he was dating one of the waitresses at Wojo's and had been taken down to the basement a few times. Certain items found in his trailer came from Wojo's basement, according to my source. He and the waitress also used the basement for more recreational purposes, if you know what I mean.

Eeeww.

Criminals is dumb.