David Wright, 19, of St. Louis, and a prisoner in the Warren County Jail, was charged with arson in the first degree and property damage in the first degree for starting a fire in his cell on Nov. 26. 

Wright was previously arrested in connection to a series of car break-ins in Warrenton that occurred in May. He was charged with two counts of assault in the first degree, four counts of tampering with a motor vehicle and one count of resisting arrest for those crimes.

According to the probable cause statement, Warren County Sheriff’s Department Sergeant Jon Brown heard fire alarms at 6:39 p.m. on Nov. 26 and checked the fire panel which indicated smoke alarms from two cells in B Pod of the Warren County Jail, where 22 inmates were present. 

When he responded at the jail, he determined the two cells were B15 and B25. B15 was vacant and Wright was the sole occupant in B25, according to the probable cause statement. 

Brown reported when he arrived at the cell he could see smoke through the door glass, and Wright had jammed the door shut with blankets to prevent airflow. 

Wright was removed from the cell and detained by correction officers, and, according to the probable cause statement, he had flushed the source of the smoke down the toilet in his cell. 

There was damage from fire on the walls as well as visible residue from smoke. 

The resulting alarm also caused the fire system to discharge in the control room, causing over $10,000 in damages, according to the probable cause statement. 

Brown reported that inmates had been using wires from the cell light in vacant B15 to light papers to smoke. 

Wright refused to answer questions about why his smoke alarm had gone off and denied any knowledge of what happened. The entire pod was searched and his was the only one with smoke. 

Wright has a confined docket hearing scheduled for his earlier charges on Dec. 3.