A woman was arrested for allegedly setting a fire at the American Power Yoga studio, also known as Sunstone Studio, in Dallas, according to media reports.
Nancy Duarte was arrested on charges of second degree arson and resisting arrest after allegedly breaking into the second-story studio, which was empty at the time, and starting a fire around 10:30 p.m. Saturday. A security guard witnessed the incident and called police. The Dallas Fire Rescue quickly put out the fire.
Police say Duarte admitted to setting the studio on fire using flammable liquid, but she did not offer a motive. Dallas Fire Rescue spokesman Jason Evans says the fire caused minimal damage.
The studio uses the American Power Yoga program created by Kurt Johnsen, who also hosts the internationally televised show "Yoga for Life" and has his own yoga DVDs.
In February, a woman allegedly fired three shots into the studio, according to a report from KXAS-TV. After Duarte's arrest on Saturday, police questioned her about the shootings, but she denied involvement, according to a report by The Dallas Morning News.
The Dallas Morning News also reported that Duarte was not known to Stephanie Denton Quigley, director of Sunstone studio operations. Quigley told the paper that the studio is open.
The paper reported:
A witness, Phineas Bennett-Lovari, said the woman was lighting matches and pieces of paper and throwing them into the air, yelling, “I’m going to burn this [expletive] down. I don’t care if I go to jail.”
“It seemed like she wasn’t really trying to burn it down, she was just trying to make a huge scene,” he said.