WINONA, Minn. – A Winona man, upset that his cell phone was missing, tossed a jug of gasoline into an oversize trash bin and set it ablaze. Such was what witnesses told police while firefighters were extinguishing the fire. This was about 1:45 p.m. in the 800 block of Sanborn Street just off Mankato Avenue. Police arrested Patrick Matthew Smuth, 46, nearby. They said he was high on something. He was booked for arson and also a probation violation. A day earlier, a man said he had found a cellphone plugged into an external outlet on his property, apparently for a freeloading recharge. Not knowing to whom the phone belonged, the man said he took it to a Verizon shop and left it to be reclaimed. Then, he said, Smith came by and asked for his phone. Displeased that it wasn’t there, Smith left and came back with a milk jug and reportedly said: “I have $2 worth of gas to light this thing up.” He dumped accelerant into bin and lit it with a cigarette lighter. Verizon still has Smith’s phone whenever he wants to pick it up.
Smith. Trotted two blocks to a Kwik Trip, returned with a milk jug but not any milk.