“I burned it,” Mohammed Reza Mesmarian told police detectives during questioning following his arrest
“Mesmarian admitted he knew setting a vehicle on fire could cause damage to the (transformer) unit, but stated he did it for the big message, larger picture, greater good,” his arrest report said. “He explained the greater good was clean energy.”
Mesmarian, 34, remains jailed without bail pending mental health evaluations and a court hearing
He told police the fire early
Mesmarian told police he had been in
The solar array provides electricity by contract with several Las Vegas Strip properties operated by
Mesmarian told police he was born in
Pitaro declined additional comment about Mesmarian's case pending the mental competency hearing in state court in
Mesmarian's arrest in
The
Allegations against Mesmarian bear similarities to a
The man,
McRae told an informant that he was “stopping global warming,” and he railed against fossil fuels. The court papers said he was planning another act of sabotage — “the grandmomma” as he described it — to disable a larger power substation in
In Mesmarian's case,
Mesmarian was seen on security video positioning the car, rigging it to burn, and sitting and watching the fire for about 15 minutes before walking away, according to his arrest report. Mesmarian told police he “felt peace” and had no regrets.
No employees were at the sprawling facility at the time. Damage was discovered after they arrived the following morning.
Mesmarian also faces escape charges after police said he tried twice to slip the grasp of arresting officers. He later told police “he wanted to experience the feeling of what
Repeated phone calls Wednesday to Mesmarian’s child dentistry and braces practice in
Records show that Mesmarian’s dentist license is active but was restricted last July by the Colorado Dental Board, and that Mesmarian filed Chapter 7 bankruptcy last
Dental Board discipline stemmed from a complaint about “potential unsanitary conditions including improper disposal of infectious waste and uncapped syringes” at Mesmarian’s practice, dating to
The board called for Mesmarian to complete continuing education courses over the course of 12 months. A
An attorney who represented Mesmarian in the bankruptcy case did not immediately respond to messages from The Associated Press.
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