Arizona man charged with stealing van, setting fires

PHOENIX – Authorities in northern Arizona said they have arrested a man suspected of stealing a van and setting small fires.

The Yavapai County Sheriff’s Office took MacKenize Boswell, 31, of Oak Creek, into custody Monday.

Boswell is accused of driving off in a minivan that had been left running outside a convenience store in the town around 6:45 a.m.

A store employee told deputies he had started the car to warm it up before his drive home.

He said when he went back outside about 15 minutes later, the maroon van was gone. Surveillance video showed the vehicle had turned north onto State Route 179.

A deputy saw the van around 8 a.m. in a parking lot in a Sedona shopping center and stopped the driver.

Boswell also had $300 in cash on him. He told authorities he’d found it in the van.

He also was suspected of burning small patches of dried grass near a pond by a barn where he was staying. The home on the property was vacant.

Deputies said they found a propane torch at the site.

Boswell, who told a neighbor he had recently been released from rehabilitation and asked for something to eat, was charged with vehicle theft, property theft, vandalism, trespassing and unlawful burning.

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