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A 19-year-old Albert Lea man was charged with aiding and abetting arson Friday for his alleged involvement with a garage fire a week ago on Garfield Avenue.

Kolten Lee Wright was arrested on Wednesday and charged in Freeborn County District Court Friday morning. Court documents state two other adults and one juvenile are also believed to have been part of the incident.

Albert Lea police and Albert Lea Fire Rescue were dispatched at 8:33 p.m. Oct. 6 for a reported fire in the front of a garage near Hawthorne Elementary School at 819 Garfield Ave. The structure fire was quickly contained and extinguished and did not cause damage to the home. The fire was quickly deemed suspicious in nature and an investigation began.

According to court documents, Wright and the other individuals had picked up lighter fluid from Wright’s house before starting driving to the house and starting the fire. One of the other individuals who was believed to be with Wright stated the juvenile had doused blankets and a cushion in the garage with the lighter fluid and then took some paper and lit it with a lighter and threw it on the blankets and cushion. She ran to the car, followed by the juvenile and Wright.

When interviewed, Wright said the juvenile had the idea of getting the lighter fluid and that he didn’t think he was serious at first. He said he didn’t want to get involved because he was out on bail but also said he wasn’t opposed to burning down the garage. Court documents state Wright first claimed the juvenile was the only one with the lighter fluid but then admitted he had a little bit of it that was not enough to start the fire.

The juvenile told police Wright was the only one in the garage and that he ran out of the garage and told the other two to run to the vehicle. He said Wright had a plastic bag with lighter fluid in it and told him that he finally got revenge. The juvenile claimed he never had the lighter fluid.

On Wednesday police received an email from a school employee who stated that Wright had shared that he started the fire. Later in the afternoon he tried to blame it on the juvenile.

After being arrested and brought to the Freeborn County jail, Wright reportedly told police one of the other people was to be the lookout while he and the juvenile set the garage on fire. He said the juvenile first tried to get inside the house but couldn’t get in.

He allegedly grabbed the lighter fluid from Wright and doused the cushion with lighter fluid, before Wright reportedly doused the blankets. Wright then reportedly got his lighter out and lit a brown paper bag and put it down on the lighter fluid. He said the juvenile ran out of the garage before he lit the fire.

Assistant Freeborn County Attorney Abigail Ehret in court Friday talked about the seriousness of the alleged crime and said if Wright is found guilty the charge carries a presumptive commitment to prison of between 41 and 57 months.

She asked for unconditional bail of $150,000 and conditional bail of $75,000.

Public defender Gregory Diedrich said the case was largely based on hearsay and said Wright lives in the community with his parents and has substantial ties here. He also said he is not a threat based on his history.

Diedrich asked for $75,000 unconditional bail and $5,000 conditional bail.

Freeborn County District Court Judge Christy Hormann said she had serious public safety concerns about the situation and set unconditional bail at $200,000 and conditional bail at $100,000.

She ordered no contact with the victims as well as the co-defendants in the case.