Man Accused Of Setting Cub Foods Bathroom On Fire: Complaint

APPLE VALLEY, MN— A man is facing arson charges after being accused of setting a fire in the bathroom of a Cub Foods in Apple Valley, according to a criminal complaint filed in Dakota County District Court said.

If found guilty of Arson in the 2nd Degree(Building),Timothy Carl Stennes, 29, could face up to ten years in prison and/or a fine of up to $20,000, the complaint said.

Cub Foods in Apple Valley reported a fire to the police on Feb. 17, at 3:36 a.m., saying a fire was started in the men's restroom and the sprinklers were activated around 3:30 a.m. when the fire alarm went off, officials said.

Inside the bathroom, officers found a burnt backpack, and burns on the baby changing station, officials said.

Surveillance footage showed a man wearing a backpack with a cigarette in his mouth and playing with a lighter going into the men's restroom around 3 a.m., before leaving the restroom 25 minutes later without the backpack, officials said.

Officials said that nobody else used the restroom until surveillance showed an employee responding to water flooding out of the bathroom due to the sprinklers running.

The fire marshal found that the fire was started in the backpack, which appeared to have been defecated in before being lit on fire, officials said.

Surveillance of a nearby transit station from earlier in the week showed the man changing clothes in the elevator which showed officers two tattoos, one on each arm, officials said.

Officials said they were able to identify the man using his tattoos with help from other law enforcement agencies.

Stennes was found in the custody of the Hennepin County Sheriff's Department, where a search warrant was obtained to search his jail property, in which officers found clothing that looked like the clothes worn by the man in the surveillance video of the arson, officials said.