St. Scholastica student charged in parking lot fire

Duluth News Tribune (MN) - Tuesday, May 5, 2009 Section: News
A College of St. Scholastica student suspected of starting a fire in a campus parking lot last week has been charged with two felonies.

Ronald Bates Case, 18, of Superior, was charged Monday with one count each of possession of an explosive or incendiary device and of discharging such a device. According to documents filed in St. Louis County District Court, Case told a Duluth Police investigator that he "is obsessed with fire and explosive events and enjoys making things that ‘go boom,' classifying himself as a ‘pyro,' " the complaint said.

According to the complaint, Case, a first-year student majoring in biology and pre-medicine, once asked a chemistry teacher about how to make nitroglycerin and showed another student his "arson's handbook."

Just before midnight April 28, St. Scholastica security was notified there was a fire in a main parking lot, which was empty at the time. There were no injuries or damages to property. Investigators found the remains of four Molotov cocktails, made using glass Sobe bottles filled with gasoline or another type of accelerant, towel-like wicks and duct tape.

After the college and police began investigating the fire, the college received a tip that Case could be the suspect. Duluth Police arson investigator Todd Kuusisto interviewed Case at his parent's Superior home. After being read his rights, Case admitted to making the Molotov cocktails in his dorm room on April 26 and using them on April 28.

"The Defendant said he threw the molotov cocktails in the parking lot because there were no cars there and he didn't want to cause any damage or hurt anyone," the complaint said.

Case also consented to a search of his car, where Kuusisto found a 2.8 gallon plastic can containing gas, motor oil, eight Sobe glass bottles, a roll of duct tape and rubber gloves.

Case lived in campus housing but has been removed by the college. He is being allowed to finish the semester, which concludes with finals this week, said St. Scholastica spokesman Bob Ashenmacher.

Whether he will be allowed to remain enrolled at the college has not yet been decided, he said, and will depend on the college's own findings and those of the criminal process