A member of the Church of Scientology in St. Paul was sitting in the building’s second-floor library when she says she saw a man pull out a jug from his backpack.
He started splashing liquid from the container onto the facility’s books. Then he took out a match and set them on fire.
That’s the account from a criminal complaint filed Monday in Ramsey County District Court.
The court document charges Anthony Odell Johnson, 26, with first-degree arson for the April 18 incident.
Officers responded to a report of a fire at the church around 9:30 p.m. that evening.
After assessing the scene, a fire investigator determined that Johnson poured gasoline on the library’s book shelf and floor before igniting it with a match, authorities say.
He reportedly kept dumping the gasoline all the way into the building’s hallway.
The woman who witnessed his actions escaped the library through a side door and returned with a fire extinguisher to douse the flames while other church members called 911, the complaint said.
Odell’s criminal history includes convictions for selling a small amount of marijuana and fleeing police.
He declined to give a statement to police.
Neither he nor his relatives could be reached for comment.