SOUTH SALT LAKE, Utah (ABC 4 News) – Caught, booked, and charged, police say 26 year old Patrick Ehat admitted to setting two South Salt Lake LDS chapels on fire in the early morning hours on Saturday.
“I think if you choose to do something, there’s consequences, and I don’t feel bad for him. He created this situation,” says Sarah, a member of one of the damaged churches.
Detectives say Ehat won’t say why he targeted the chapels, but the parents of this former BYU student released this statement: We love our son Patrick. We understand from news reports that he has confessed to two church arsons. Because he has limited his contact with us in recent months we are unable to speculate about motive. We are confident that medical professionals will assess his mental health. We have cooperated fully with law enforcement and grieve at the damage caused.
“Police and fire investigators received a tip last night that was phoned into Salt Lake City police. They followed up and arrested him at 2:30 in the morning,” says officer Gary Keller, South Salt Lake Police.
Eure Basquez, a LDS church member says, “one thing that I think is very important is to get some help for these kinds of people.”
Those who regularly attend the damaged churches were forced to meet in different locations, after investigators say Ehat broke windows to get inside the buildings before he torched them. He first targeted a chapel on 32nd South and 3rd East, then, a few hours later, he says he lit up this chapel on 27th South and Main.
“I’m glad they caught him. I hope justice will be done,” says Cindy, a member who attends one of the damaged churches.
Justice in the form of bars that now restrict his movement as Ehat begins preparing to stand before a judge. He is facing arson, criminal mischief, and burglary charges. Police do not believe he torched the home that went up in flames around the same time and near the two churches.
