PROVO, Utah, Oct. 20, 2024 (Gephardt Daily) — A Provo man was jailed Saturday for alleged aggravated arson after police say he burned an apartment unit rented by his father.
Provo police initially responded to the area of 1650 W. 100 North on Friday night after a call of a man screaming and behaving erratically, says an affidavit filed in the arrest of Facundo Tapia, 33.
“Upon my arrival, officers were speaking to the male, later identified as Facundo Tapia, who had climbed up onto the top of parking structure coverings,” says Tapia’s affidavit, filed by an officer of the Provo Police Department.
“After numerous attempts to get him down, myself and other officers also climbed up in attempts to get him down. This is when it was clear that Facundo was either having a mental episode or under the influence of some drug. As we climbed up we needed to walk through the unit that he had been sleeping in on occasion that belonged to his father.
“The unit was completely burned and destroyed,” the arrest document says. “Glass was shattered everywhere and Facundo had set fire to the majority of the items in the living room. His father said that he tried to stop him, but that he could not. Luckily, nothing had caught fully on fire and caused no more than damage to the specific unit.”
The property manager went in the unit to inspect it “and estimated damage to be well over $3,000,” the affidavit says.
“As we approached him (Facundo Tapia), he grew hesitant and scared and began to scream. At this point, I knew Facundo needed to be detained for his safety as well as the safety of officers and medics. When we got closer Facundo ripped his jacket off and squared up on us which is when we moved in to make physical contact with him.
“He resisted our detention and tensed up his arms, which forced us to forcibly pry his arms back in order to place handcuffs on him.”
Tapia was checked out medically at Utah Valley Hospital before being booked for investigation of:
- Arson, a first-degree felony
- Property damage/destruction — loss between $1,500 and $4,999, a third-degree felony
- Interfering with a peace officer, a class B misdemeanor
- Disorderly conduct, an infraction
“Per Utah code, Facundo commited arson by fire to a habitable place, caused a public disturbance that raised alarm in the complex with numerous neighbors, resisted our detention attempt, and destroyed well over $3,000 dollars of property, and for these reasons, I have probable cause to arrest Facundo for the listed offenses,” the officer wrote in the affidavit.
Tapia was ordered held without bail in the Utah County Jail, where he remained as of Sunday evening.
