23-Year-Old Sioux Falls Man Arrested on Arson Charges
A 23-year-old Sioux Falls man is behind bars after setting fire to a car that destroyed the vehicle, a garage, and displaced a family of six over the weekend.
KSFY TV is reporting authorities arrested Alain Kpeayeh and charged him with first-degree arson on Monday, (July 22).
According to KSFY, Kpeayeh was caught on surveillance footage starting fire to a jeep parked in the garage of a residence located on the 2400 block of South Stephen Avenue, Saturday morning, (July 20) around 5:30.
Sioux Falls Public Information Officer Sam Clemens told KSFY, surveillance footage showed Kpeayeh taking off the vehicle's gas cap, placing a rag inside the tank, then squirting an unknown fluid all over the vehicle. Kpeayeh then lit the rag on fire. The blaze quickly engulfed both the car and the garage in just a matter of minutes.
The fire ended up destroying two vehicles, along with the garage, and a large portion of the South Stephen Avenue home.
Clemens told KSFY, the family of six living inside the residence was home at the time of the early morning fire. Fortunately, all the members were able to escape the blaze safely with no injuries.
Neighborhood homes that were close to the fire were not damaged as a result of the blaze.
Source: KSFY TV