Thief River Falls Woman Faces Arson Charges in EGF Islamic Center Incident

EAST GRAND FORKS, MN (trfnews.i234.me) A Thief River Falls woman has been charged with 2 counts of 1st Degree Arson for an early Sunday morning fire at the East Grand Forks Islamic Center.
the 57 year old suzette thompson of thief river falls minnesota has been charged with two counts of first degree arson in connection to a sunday fire at the islamic center in east grand forks each of those charges carries a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison uh reading from the criminal complaint quote on june 5th sunday at approximately 4 38 p.m a.m east grand forks police officer was dispatched to the islamic center on a report that an individual had set fire to the building the officer went to the uh islamic center where he met the reporting party who brought him inside and showed him his uh a a green colored curtain room divider which was partially melted and burned uh the witnesses says they were both inside the islamic center and went into the prayer room and the other went into the bathroom after exiting uh they saw a woman run out of the building uh the witness then walked down the hallway to check on what was going on with the woman it observed that the curtain was on fire witness ran outside and saw the woman running toward the east grand inn motel witness came back inside the islamic center and put the fire out and then yelled yelled to the others in the prayer room and the witnesses went outside again to see if they could see the woman who ran the officer was shown surveillance footage of the woman who ran from the islamic center the officer noted that the woman was near the curtain and appeared to be a heavier set female with blonde hair who was wearing a black dress with large pink flowers on it the officers requested that other officers secure the perimeter around the east grand inn and watch for anyone matching of the description of the woman the officer then began looking around and observed a hair spray can located on the floor behind beside the burned melted curtain officer asked the people who were present in the islamic center if they recognized the can and everyone indicated they did not uh pictures were taken of the damage to the islamic center’s curtain the investigation led to thompson who was staying at the nearby east grand inn motel uh went to room 153 knocked on the door and a short time later suzette gay thompson answered the door and allowed officers into the room to speak to her the officer noted that thompson denied being at the islamic center officer observed there was an aerosol can on the nightstand that matched the size of the one which is observed on the floor of the islamic center officer uh also observed there was a pink purse of the nightstand which matched a purse the woman was carrying as she exited the islamic center after setting the fire uh the officers noted that the woman was not wearing the same dress as the woman who fled the islamic center but that otherwise appeared to match the description of the woman uh suzette thompson was then placed under arrest uh officers uh subsequently took a recorded statement from thompson after being advised of her rights thompson agreed to speak to the officer and stated the following she has been sober for eight months but started drinking again this weekend and she was drinking wine last night she recognized the pink hairspray can recovered from the islamic center she had some of that hairspray in her room she slept all night and she was up and down a few times and went and got some coffee the officer showed thompson a copy of the picture from the islamic center surveillance which showed a woman spraying hair spray to ignite the islamic center’s curtain the thompson confirmed that the woman looked like her and stated that she didn’t remember doing anything the officer asked thompson about the dress the woman was wearing in the picture and thompson eventually admitted she took off that dress before she went to bed last night thompson continued to indicate that she didn’t know uh what the old bowling alley had now become the islamic center and didn’t know what the islamic center was the officer asked thompson if she would consent to a preliminary breath test and thompson stated she would the officer then administrator administrated a pbt preliminary breath test to thompson and it indicated her breath alcohol concentration was zero officer noted that uh thompson consented to a search of a room at the east grand forks uh east grand inn and signed a consent search form uh the officer then subsequently conducted a search of the room uh during the search a dark colored dress with a flower pattern on it matching the one worn by the woman inside the exonic center a pink purse two cigarette lighters and a hair spray can were located officers note that thompson has previous convictions for the following offenses assault in 2003 driving with alcohol contact over 0.01 in 2003 second-degree driving while impaired in 2005 resisting arrest escaping custody in 2014 failure to appear in 2014 disorderly conduct in 2014 and resisting arrest and escaping custody uh also in 2014. i’m Neil Berg reporting for trfnews.i234.me