Charges: Minneapolis woman behind on her rent set a fire in her apartment building
Jenna Nelson is facing arson charges after allegedly starting a fire in her apartment building. (Hennepin County Jail)
MINNEAPOLIS (FOX 9) - Charges say a Minneapolis woman behind on her rent set a fire in her apartment building.
The criminal complaint filed in Hennepin County District Court says Jenna Nelson, 29, now faces one felony count of first degree arson.
The incident happened Sept. 29 after 9 p.m. Firefighters responded to the three-story multi-unit apartment building and extinguished a fire in the dryer of the building’s laundry room.
On Oct. 2, the building manager contacted police to show them surveillance video that showed Nelson starting the fire.
The charges say Nelson tried to start the fire in a plastic garbage can first before moving closer and closer to the dryer and its approximately nine gas lines. Eventually, Nelson lit some clothes on fire inside a dryer and left the laundry room.
The building manager said Nelson had been living in the building for two years and was behind on her rent. She lived there with her husband and two young children.
Nelson was taken into custody on Oct. 12. If convicted of the maximum, Nelson faces 20 years in prison and a $20,000 fine, or both.