Suspect arrested in Verdi post office fire

The Associated Press

RENO -- A Christmas Day fire that heavily damaged the Verdi post office was one in a string of crimes over the holiday committed by the same man, police said Tuesday.

Justin Michael Bennett, 36, was arrested Monday night after a regional law enforcement team responded to a call of shots fired on East Fourth Street. Officers reportedly saw Bennett fleeing the scene and pulled him over. In a statement, police said Bennett had a handgun but was cooperative with officers.

He was taken to the Reno Police Department, where he was interviewed and booked into the Washoe County Jail on charges of burglary, shooting into an occupied dwelling, assault with a deadly weapon and arson.

He was being held Tuesday on $50,000 cash-only bail.

Authorities said the crime spree began just before midnight Saturday, when shots were fired at the Sparks Police Department.

Early Christmas morning, Washoe County deputies were called to Verdi west of Reno on a report of shots fired and a fire at the post office.

U.S Postal Inspector Steve Hofheins told the Reno Gazette-Journal that the building in Verdi, a community of 1,400 located along Interstate 80 about 10 miles west of Reno, may be a total loss. He said while no mail was burned, some mail sustained water damage from firefighters' efforts.

Christmas night, the suspect allegedly turned his attention to Reno-area strip clubs.

Around 11 p.m., police said he left a threatening note and ammunition with an employee at the Wild Orchid on South Virginia Street before running off.

About 15 minutes later, someone shot into the parking lot of Fantasy Girls, striking seven unoccupied vehicles.

Roughly a half-hour later, police said Bennett allegedly broke into the Spice House on Spokane Street, where he set several fires and shot bullets inside the closed business.