Man police say set fire to Perry church arrested on arson charges after K-9 search
The Perry Police Department has arrested a man who they say intentionally set fire to the Crosspoint Baptist Church on Thursday morning.
Joshua Gipson, 34, was charged on two counts of arson, two counts of burglary, one count of criminal mischief, one count of larceny and violation of probation, according to a summary of charges and evidence from the State Fire Marshals Office.
Gipson's arrest and booking into the Taylor County Jail Thursday came after investigators with the Perry Police Department and the Bureau of Fire, Arson and Explosives used K-9s to track him down near the church, 920 N. Courtney Road.
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Church fire was 'not a showstopper', won't halt start of school year
Randy Maubach — the school administrator at Point of Great Christian, which operates out of the church — said four offices were damaged and one was completely destroyed.
The school, which will begin holding classes later in the week, had to reschedule its orientation. The fire, however, did not derail the beginning of the school year.
"It was not a showstopper," Maubach said.
The school's only bus was also destroyed in a fire.
A Taylor County resident has since offered to donate a bus, which the school would use for field trips.
After Gipson's Miranda rights were read to him, he confessed to setting the fires, according to the summary. If he's convicted, he could receive up to 50 years in federal prison.
“Arson is a malicious crime, but especially heinous when committed against a place of worship," said CFO Jimmy Patronis. "As Florida’s State Fire Marshal, I have made it very clear that arson, and evil or hateful crimes of any kind, will not be tolerated in our state and will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.”
The Perry Police Department requested the help of the Division of Investigative and Forensic Services’ Bureau of Fire, Arson, and Explosives Investigations (BFAEI) on Thursday "due to the multiple fires and their suspicious nature" at the church, the summary read.
Upon arrival, a K-9 Team investigation found the presence of ignitable liquids and soon determined that fires had been set in several areas.
Soon after, as the Department of Corrections’ K-9 Team conducted an open-air track of the property, they were led off property to a nearby area where a group of people watched them.
Joshua Gipson, according to the summary, was part of this group and matched a suspect description captured by security cameras on the church property.
Contact Christopher Cann at ccann@tallahassee.com and follow @ChrisCannFL on Twitter.
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This article originally appeared on Tallahassee Democrat: Police arrest man they believe set fire to Crosspoint church in Perry