Jury finds man guilty of setting fire at hotel used for emergency housing near KCI
A Platte County jury has found a Prairie Village man guilty of setting a fire inside a bathtub at a hotel being used for emergency housing near Kansas City International Airport, according to the prosecutor’s office.
The jury deliberated for less than 30 minutes last week before finding 43-year-old Travis Betts guilty of the felony of knowingly burning, according to a news release from the Platte County Prosecutor’s Office.
Jurors found Betts guilty of starting a fire on July 14, 2021, in the bathtub of a hotel room.
Police and firefighters responded to the hotel about 5 p.m. in response to a 911 call from hotel security reporting a disturbance in the room. Betts was allegedly blocking the door to the bathroom and was detained. Officers then kicked in the door to the bathroom and firefighters extinguished the fire.
Betts allegedly admitted to being under the influence of methamphetamine when he started the fire.
The fire occurred at the time Kansas City was using hotels to help address a rise in homelessness during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The woman who was staying in the room at the time testified that she met Betts under a bridge near Northwest Barry Road and agreed to let him take a shower after he gave her food.
Prosecutors had charged Betts as a persistent offender. He is scheduled to be sentenced on June 16 and faces up to 7 years in prison.
