Waterloo Man Arrested for Arson in the 1st Degree

On Friday, September 26, 2008 around 2 p.m., Waterloo Fire Rescue Firefighters and Waterloo Police Officers responded to 425 Bayard Street in Waterloo on a report of a man who had intentionally ignited a propane tank inside the residence.  Before firefighters arrived, an occupant of the house was able to extinguish the flame, turn off the valve on the propane tank and remove it from the residence.

Police and Fire Rescue Investigators learned that a dispute between the man who ignited the propane tank, and a woman, led up to this incident.   The man also brought another propane tank and four large jugs of kerosene into the home with intentions of igniting those as well, but those items did not ignite.  The man responsible for this incident, later identified as Ronald Dean Swartz, fled the home before Police and Firefighters arrived.

On September 29, 2008 Ronald Dean Swartz was arrested and charged with Arson in the 1^st Degree.  Swartz is presently being held in the Black Hawk County Jail on $100,000.00 bond.

Captain John Beckman

Waterloo Police Department

319-291-4383