Man Charged With First-Degree Arson After Crossroads Mall Fire

(KNSI) – A 57-year-old man faces a felony arson charge after a fire forced the evacuation of Crossroads Center mall on Monday morning.

Jorge Ozornia was charged in Stearns County District Court on Tuesday with one count of first-degree arson. The charge applies when someone sets fire to an occupied building knowing another person is inside, and it carries a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison and a $35,000 fine.

According to the criminal complaint, St. Cloud police were called to the mall at 9:13 a.m. for a report of someone starting a fire. Officers and St. Cloud firefighters followed smoke to a hallway, where they found burned chairs. Crews helped clear the mall and secure the scene.

The mall manager told officers she was walking back to her office when she saw a fire in the middle of a walkway and bystanders trying to put it out. She said Ozornia was standing near the fire, and others told her he had started it. She asked him to come to her office, and he agreed. The complaint says Ozornia told her on the way that he started the fires, that he was mad at himself, and that he wanted to be arrested.

Two other witnesses told police they saw a man matching Ozornia’s description standing near the fire and pouring a liquid into it. The fire grew larger as he poured, according to the complaint, and the liquid is presumed to have been lighter fluid or another accelerant. Officers later found empty lighter fluid bottles in a nearby trash can.

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