St. Cloud Man Declared Incompetent to Stand Trial in Arson Cases, Substance Use Treatment Ordered

(KNSI) – A St. Cloud man charged in two separate arson cases this year will not have to stand trial.

James John Arthur Lund was found incompetent after failing a Rule 20 examination. The results were released on Friday. Lund was also charged with possessing illegal narcotics. He is undergoing substance use treatment supervised by the county.

Lund is accused of lighting a stranger’s car on fire at the Walgreens on Division Street on June 17th. He fled the scene but was picked up about a block away.

Lund was released on bail and then is alleged to have set his apartment on fire in the 500 block of 8th Avenue South on July 2nd. No one was hurt, but five units were deemed uninhabitable after sustaining significant damage.

Lund was allegedly captured on surveillance camera attempting to start a fire outside the door of the apartment across the hall. Lund left, and his roommate came home to open the door to a wall of smoke billowing out from the inside. Lund was picked up a couple of blocks from the apartment building.

Investigators say they were able to determine that the fire started on the floor between a mounted air conditioner and the refrigerator. The appliances were in good working order, and the fire could not have started on its own. They also noticed a threat against the judge in his first case scrawled on the wall.

When Lund was picked up, he blamed drones for causing the apartment fire. He will be reexamined in the future, but until then all charges are held up by the court.

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