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LOVELAND, Colo. (KDVR) – A man has been taken into custody in connection with an arson at a Loveland church that occurred earlier this week.

Just before midnight on Thursday, Jan. 19, crews with the Loveland Fire Rescue Authority responded to reports of a fire at the Abiding Love Lutheran Church, located at 2825 East 1st St.

According to the Loveland Police Department, when first responders arrived, they discovered a broken window near the church’s front entrance and a very small fire, which they extinguished almost immediately.

Officers with the LPD joined the response and after searching the church’s basement, discovered evidence of a second fire that had been extinguished via the building’s sprinkler system.

On Friday, Jan. 21 at roughly 8:30 p.m., officers with the LPD, aided by personnel from the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms, arrested Darion R. Sexton, 21 in connection with this arson investigation.

Sexton was booked in connection to the following charges:

  • Possession, use, or removal of an incendiary device
  • 2 counts of first-degree arson

FOX31 will provide updates to this story once they are released by officials.