Man sentenced to federal prison for arson that heavily damaged Kansas City church
A Kansas City man was sentenced to more than five years in prison in the arson of a metro area church last year.
On Monday, Christopher A. Durant was sentenced to 63 months in federal prison without the possibility of parole after he admitted to starting setting a fire at Beyond Thee Four Walls Outreach Ministry, according to a news release from the U.S. Attorney’s office in Kansas City.
Durant, 39, was also made to pay more than $143,000 in restitution that will be distributed to the church, insurance company and owner of the church building to cover the cost of damages, according to the release.
In the early hours of Aug. 26, 2020, firefighters responded to a fire that heavily damaged the church’s building at the north side of the road in the 5900 block of East U.S. 40 highway.
Durant was arrested in August 2020 and pleaded guilty to one county of arson in April.
Church staff told authorities that they recognized Durant from earlier in the month, according to Monday’s news release. They said Durant approached them after the church was closed on Aug. 15, 2020, asking for water. When they did not give him any, Durant became angry, according to the release.
Surveillance video from the night of the fire showed a unknown man, later identified as Durant, approach the building at about 12:54 a.m and throw several items, later identified as chunks of asphalt, at the front windows, court records show. The man then left the view of the camera.
About four minutes later, the same man returned and lit an unknown object on fire and placed it through the mail slot in the front door, records show. He then lit a piece of paper and placed it through the mail slot before lighting another object on fire and placing it through the window broken by the asphalt.
About 1:30 a.m., the man returned and lit paper on fire and placed it through the window. About two minutes later, he is seen walking up to the front window with an object in his hand and leaning into the window. A large flash is seen on the video tape.
A police dog detected a flammable liquid in the area on the floor inside the church under the broken window. Fire investigators concluded that the fire had been intentionally set.
After Durant was arrested and while he was being questioned, he allegedly said that he was in the area of the church on the morning of the fire, court records show. He also told investigators, “It wasn’t a hate crime.”
The arson was investigated by the Kansas City Fire Department’s Fire Investigation Unit, the Kansas City Police Department’s Bomb and Arson Unit and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.
