KINGMAN, Ariz. – A homeless man who torched property where a Good Samaritan allowed him to stay in Dolan Springs will be sentenced to just more than a decade in the Arizona Department of Corrections. A 10.5-year prison term is mandated in the plea agreement entered Aug. 3 for Edward Chrzan, 44.
Chrzan pleaded guilty to arson of an occupied structure for the June 7 incident.
A probable cause for arrest statement said that the man who allowed Chrzan to stay on his property reported that Chrzan had threatened him for a few days before showing up one day “acting all crazy.” The man told investigators that he noticed a travel trailer he used for storage was on fire and that he saw Chrzan running from the scene about 11 a.m.
The fire burned a second trailer in close proximity to a motor home occupied by the reporting party and others. The probable cause statement said that citizens confronted Chrzan on Pierce Ferry Road and that he said he might not have been caught if he had waited for nighttime darkness to avoid detection.
Sentencing is scheduled Aug. 18.