A homeless man with a history of mental illness and damaging property is suspected of setting fire to a Bellevue mosque over the weekend, police said Sunday.
A homeless man with a history of mental illness and damaging property is suspected of setting fire to a Bellevue mosque over the weekend, police said Sunday.
Bellevue police confirmed that the blaze at the Islamic Center of Eastside was set intentionally and arrested the suspect on suspicion of arson and an unrelated outstanding warrant. The early-morning fire did not injure anyone, but it destroyed the north side of the mosque. Authorities previously said there was no evidence of a hate crime.
The Seattle Times generally does not name suspects who haven’t been charged with a crime. Bellevue police have sent their report to the King County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office for consideration of criminal charges.
In July, the suspect disrupted prayers at the mosque by “yelling ‘wildly’ and waving his arms,” court records show, and had an altercation with members of the congregation who escorted him out. He pleaded guilty to misdemeanor assault and disorderly conduct.
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The man’s probation officer told the court in December that he “suffers from serious mental-health issues.” He has camped under an overpass for years, partly because his condition makes it hard to stay in a shelter, court records show. He had been taking medication for his mental illness.
D. Pat Kozu, a lawyer who represented the man in the July incident at the mosque, didn’t respond to a request for comment Sunday.
The man has a long history of causing property damage, including three incidents since 2016 before the alleged arson, according to court documents filed by King County prosecutors. In June, he was charged with malicious mischief in the first degree, a felony, for breaking a window at NikeTown in downtown Seattle.
According to a police report of the incident, the man told an officer he broke the window “as a means to go to jail” to be safe from people who were trying to kill him. He failed to appear for a hearing in King County Superior Court on Jan. 11, and a judge issued an arrest warrant.
Erick Spencer, a public defender who represents him, didn’t respond to a request for comment Sunday.