A man sitting in a pew at the Cathedral of St. Paul on Saturday started igniting paper and then shoved the lit pages down the church’s air vents, authorities said.
Dominic Segura’s behavior caught the attention of other churchgoers and then the police, who ordered a temporary evacuation of the cathedral out of fear the 28-year-old might have been carrying a bomb.
It was later determined he wasn’t.
That’s the account outlined in a criminal complaint filed Monday against Segura in Ramsey County District Court. It charges the St. Paul man with one count of first-degree attempted arson and a second count of making threats of violence.
Both charges are felonies.
Police were called to the cathedral about 11:30 a.m. Saturday after receiving word that a man was trying to light a fire in the historic building.
Officers found Segura trying to fight off two people who were restraining him, the complaint said.
During a search of his belongings, police found a butane lighter, a bottle of liquid, an orange key fob with a black button on it, and a bag filled with books wrapped inside a wire connected to what appeared to be a computer hard drive, charges say.
Police also reportedly saw several pages torn out of a church hymnal near where Segura had been sitting.
The church was evacuated while a bomb squad investigated whether the wired items were explosive. They were not, the complaint said.
Other churchgoers told police they had seen Segura standing near the altar flicking a lighter as he mumbled unintelligibly, the complaint said.
He then started walking down the center aisle as he crumpled paper, they told officers. He lit the pages on fire after sitting down in a pew and began shoving them into a vent in the floor, court documents say.
That’s when witnesses intervened, stomped out the flames and grabbed Segura, the complaint said.
Segura threatened to shoot them as they held him down, charges say.
In an interview with police, Segura said he was at the church to pray and that he had wired the books together to keep them from falling apart. He added that he had flicked his lighter only to try to light candles inside the church, the complaint said.
Segura’s past criminal convictions include arson, theft and committing threats of violence.
He made his first appearance on the latest charges filed against him Monday morning. No attorney was listed for him in court records.