A 43-year-old apparently homeless man who spent 15 days in the Lincoln County jail last November for public indecency has been charged with setting a fire in Toledo this month that destroyed the bathrooms at the city’s Memorial Field.
Zachary C. Casas was indicted by a grand jury March 18 on second-degree arson, first-degree criminal mischief and reckless burning. He is being held on $200,000 bond.
Toledo police and Lincoln County Sheriff’s deputies believe Casas set a portable toilet on fire about 3:11 a.m. March 12 and it spread to the adjacent wooden restroom building. Both were destroyed. The restrooms were valued at $50,000.
In a probable cause affidavit filed in Lincoln County circuit court, Toledo Officer Dalynn Shinholster said she had contact with Casas two hours before the fires “and he appeared to be under the influence of drugs.” Shinholster and Officer Conor Ringwald spent the next three days piecing together Casas’ movements that night from several business security videos and from a Georgia-Pacific security guard.
Casas was originally jailed March 12 on what Shinholster termed “an unrelated matter” before his indictment a week later.
Casas, who lists a general delivery address in Newport, was arrested last September in Lincoln City for public indecency. He pleaded no contest, served 15 days in jail under the condition he complete an alcohol and drug program by the end of 2024. In September 2021 Casas was sentenced to two years in prison and three years of post-prison supervision after pleading no contest to burglary of a Toledo home.
Arson is a particularly heinous crime and if the suspect was on hard drugs, it reminds us all to stop these hard drugs from hurting our community. This is not an easy task. It hurts the important work of our non-profits and social services. I hope this person gets off all drugs and will serve time in prison. This act of arson was inexcusable.