Man Found Incompetent to face Stearns County Arson Charges

ST. CLOUD (WJON News) -- A man formerly of St. Paul who's charged with two separate cases of arson in Stearns County has been found mentally unfit to face the charges against him.

Thirty-nine-year-old James Lund is accused of trying to light a woman's car on fire in the pharmacy drive-thru at the St. Cloud Walgreens store and just a few weeks later trying to burn down a south St. Cloud apartment building.

The first incident happened on the morning of June 17th. St. Cloud Police were dispatched to the Walgreens parking lot just after 10:00 a.m. Officers responded to the report of a vehicle on fire.

An investigation determined that Lund had gone into the store to buy a bottle of rubbing alcohol, then went outside, poured it on the vehicle, and lit it on fire. The driver of the car was inside her vehicle while waiting in the pharmacy drive-thru lane.

The woman told police she did not see Lund pour the rubbing alcohol on her car and only realized what had happened when she saw the flames. The victim was able to douse the flames with a bottle of water and watched Lund leave the scene.

Lund was found near 22nd Avenue and Highway 23 and arrested. He was booked into the Stearns County Jail on suspicion of 3rd-degree arson and 5th-degree drug possession.

Police say the suspect and the victim did not know each other and it appears that the vehicle was randomly targeted.

The second incident had the St. Cloud Fire Department respond to a report of a residential building on fire in the 500 block of 8th Avenue South on July 2nd. When firefighters arrived, they found smoke coming out the windows of a unit on the third floor and quickly put out the fire. Authorities say no victims were found inside the unit, and no one was hurt in the incident.

Five of the apartment units were damaged, and the people living in them worked with the property manager to find alternate housing. The man living in the unit that caught fire has been identified as Lund.

According to the criminal complaint, St. Cloud Police responded to the scene and spoke with two men who lived in the building. One was a man who lived with Lund, and the other was a neighbor who spoke with Lund earlier in the day and said he appeared to have been under the influence of narcotics.

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Surveillance video from the building shows Lund leave his apartment at 3:08 p.m., walk across the hall, and bend down with something in his hand. The investigation after the fire revealed fresh burn marks on the carpet at that location.

In the video, Lund is allegedly seen returning to his apartment briefly, then going toward the stairwell to leave the building. According to court records, the video shows the man who lived with Lund opening the door to the apartment at 3:19 p.m. and black smoke pouring out near the ceiling.

Police found Lund near Fifth Avenue and Fourth Street South soon after, and said he had a butane lighter in his pocket. Records show he told police he did not start any fires in his apartment, was the last person to leave the unit, and did not smell any smoke when he left.

According to court documents, he also allegedly told police that people with drones could have started the fire. Lund was arrested and taken to the Stearns County Jail.

The U.S. Fire Marshal determined the fire began on the living room floor of Lund's unit between the refrigerator and a wall with the AC unit. The criminal complaint alleges investigators found a lighter and empty lighter refill in that area.

Through their investigation, authorities ruled out electrical failures, accidental, and natural causes.

All charges are on hold until Lund can be restored to competency and aid in his defense of the charges.