SOUTH CHARLESTON, W.Va. — South Charleston police charged a Kentucky man Wednesday afternoon in connection with a fire at the Southridge Walmart early Wednesday morning.
Robert Walden Rogers, 41, was arrested in Logan County and is being charged with arson and grand larceny. Police said that Rogers used the fire as a diversion to get away with $2,600 worth of jewelry.
Tip line calls helped catch Rogers after his picture was released, according to police.
The fire caused significant damage, South Charleston Police Sgt. Pat Rader said.
“Some of the employees evaluated and decided it was too big to try and put out themselves and they got everybody out. It looked like some plastic tarpaulins and different boxes caught up pretty quick, the fire got to the ceiling,” he said.
The blaze broke out about 12:30 a.m. and forced the evacuation of all store employees and customers. Rogers was caught on video surveillance.
“The surveillance puts him all around the store,” said Rader. “There are certain areas cameras can’t pickup, but we do have him in that general area and other parts of the store as well.”
There were no estimates on damage available from Walmart officials, but Rader called it “significant.”
“It was luck our fire department got there as quickly as they did and put it out as quickly as they did,” he said. “It could have been much, much worse.”
In addition to charges related to Wednesday’s incident, Rogers also has outstanding warrants in both West Virginia and Virginia, police said.