APOPKA, Fla. — A homeless man was arrested after police say he set an Apopka thrift store on fire Wednesday.
Police say Curtis L. Rouse, 38, broke into the Good Neighbor Place Thrift Store at 199 S. Park Ave. around midnight Wednesday and spent several hours removing items and bringing them behind a nearby church.
They said surveillance video showed Rouse leaving the store at 5:18 a.m., and a fire breaking out inside the store one minute later.
Police said they found the items behind the church, along with items bearing Rouse’s name.
They said they found Rouse at one of his known locations a short time later, where he allegedly told them he threw a cigarette he was smoking down inside the store, thinking it was out.
Investigators said Rouse told them he didn’t mean to set the store on fire and he wrote an apology note to the store’s owner.
Court records show Rouse has been arrested several times before, including for burglary.
He’s being charged with arson and burglary.
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