Authorities report a Batesville man was arrested Monday after authorities say he admitted to throwing homemade firebombs at the Batesville Crisis Center, believing the building was “talking to him.”
Manfredo Santizo-Lopez, age 37, was charged in Independence County Circuit Court after a series of arson attempts at the facility located across the street from his home. Santizo-Lopez is being held on a $30,000 bond.
According to court documents, the Batesville Fire Department responded to a grass fire at the center on April 15th. Investigators discovered several unexploded “Molotov cocktails”, including glass Mexican Coke bottles and cleaning containers stuffed with paper towel wicks, laying around the property.
Security camera footage from a nearby businesses showed a suspect standing near a carport at 2055 Byers St., throwing a lit device at the center.
Batesville Police noted that a similar attack occurred on April 4, where a device was burned against the building for 10 minutes.
Santizo-Lopez admitted to “throwing the fire”, telling investigators that since 2014, he believed people at the center were using speakers to aggravate and spy on him.
Authorities say Santizo-Lopez was a suspect in another vandalism case in 2023 involving the same building. Relatives told police at that time, he believed people were spying on him from the facility.
Damages to the center’s siding and windows are estimated at $4,362.
Investigators say they have seized Santizo-Lopez’s cellphone and fingerprints for further investigation and analysis at the Arkansas State Crime Lab.
Santizo-Lopez has been charged with two counts of felony arson.