Police arrest arson suspect who allegedly caused power outage at school

Police have arrested a man who they say set an electrical box on fire outside an elementary school in the middle of the night, forcing the school to shift to remote learning for a day.

Parents and guardians of Midvalley Elementary students were told Monday that classes would be held remotely after a power outage at the school, which was caused by arson.

After the incident, school will be held in-person as usual on Tuesday.

According to an email sent to parents, the power outage happened early Monday morning when someone vandalized and damaged an electrical box on campus. The utility company was called in to restore power, but the repairs needed were extensive and the school was without heat.

Unified Fire was called to the school at 2:40 a.m. for a fire on a large utility box. Then later in the day around 3:45 p.m., the department announced that the suspect was identified and arrested by a multi-agency effort.

Read more: Fox 13 Salt Lake City