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PROVO — A man was arrested Wednesday after police say he tried to light the gas tanks of at least two vehicles at a car dealership on fire.
Provo police were called to 815 S. University Ave. where a man was fighting with employees, according to a police booking affidavit. When officers arrived and questioned the man, he said his name was Diablo.
"I asked for his real name and he told me Lucifer," the officer wrote in the affidavit.
Officers then reviewed security video from the car lot, which showed the man standing next to a vehicle with the gas tank open, "and the male is lighting a torch into the gas tank," according to the affidavit. "The manager tells him to stop, but the male asks him, 'Or what, what are you going to do about it?' The manager says to the male, 'You're torching my car' (and) the male stated, 'I am.'"
Police say the man also attempted to light a second car's gas tank on fire.
"(He) created a weapon of mass destruction by opening a car gas tank and trying to light it on fire. This is a weapon of mass destruction because if (he) was successful in his plan to light the car on fire it could have caused widespread death or serious bodily injury," the affidavit states.
John Taylor Beesley, 43, of Provo, was arrested for investigation of making a threat of terrorism and possession of drug paraphernalia. When officers checked Beesley's pockets they found a baggy of methamphetamine and Beesley's release papers from his prior booking into the Utah County Jail. Beesley was arrested a week ago and accused of causing a disruption at Utah Valley Hospital and then threatening to kill a police officer and his family.
