A 57-year-old Sauk Rapids man is sitting in the Stearns County Jail after allegedly setting furniture and carpeting ablaze near the food court at Crossroads Center mall in St. Cloud on Monday morning, then telling mall security he wanted to be taken to jail. Bystanders put out the flames before firefighters even arrived, and the mall's opening was delayed while crews checked the building for damage.
The St. Cloud Police Department said in a press release that the fire broke out around 9:15 a.m., roughly 45 minutes before Crossroads Center was scheduled to open for the day, according to KARE 11. Witnesses told investigators they watched the man ignite furniture and carpeting in front of a store before he calmly informed mall security that he wanted to go to jail, as reported by KNSI. He was identified as Jorge Ozornia and was taken into custody at the scene, where he remained near the food court until officers arrived.
St. Cloud police and firefighters responded to the mall's address at 4101 Division Street at 9:13 a.m. Firefighters confirmed the flames had already been extinguished by bystanders and used fans to clear smoke from the building before handing the investigation over to the St. Cloud Fire Marshal's Office, per the same account. The station's report notes that emergency crews delayed the mall's opening while they completed safety inspections.
Suspect Told Police He Started the Fire on Purpose
Ozornia admitted to intentionally starting the fire, and he is now awaiting formal charges at the Stearns County Jail. Under Minnesota Statute § 609.561, a conviction for first-degree arson in a non-dwelling building where people are present or reasonably expected to be present carries a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison and a fine of up to $35,000, according to FindLaw. Minnesota criminal procedure generally requires suspects held on probable cause to receive a formal court appearance or charging decision within 36 to 48 hours of arrest, excluding Sundays and legal holidays, per Keil Defense. It remains unclear what prompted Ozornia's alleged actions or whether mental health played any role, and the exact cost of the fire and smoke damage has not been released.
Mall operations have been affected by both the physical damage and the need for ongoing ventilation, KARE 11 reported. Crossroads Center opened in April 1966 and spans 890,000 square feet, making it the largest enclosed shopping mall in Minnesota outside the Minneapolis–St. Paul metro area, according to Wikipedia. The mall draws an estimated 4.5 million visitors annually and anchors the West Division Street commercial corridor, which sees daily traffic counts exceeding 26,000 vehicles, per Inventure Real Estate.
A Mall With a History of High-Profile Incidents
Monday's fire is not the first major public safety scare at Crossroads Center. On September 17, 2016, an assailant stabbed 10 people inside the shopping complex before being fatally shot by an off-duty law enforcement officer, an attack that prompted lasting changes to the property's security protocols, as documented by MPR News.
The mall fire also follows another arson case that rattled St. Cloud earlier this year. On March 31, a fire inside a bathroom at Westwood Elementary School caused an estimated $2 million in property damage, and St. Cloud police identified a 9-year-old student as responsible, according to CBS News. Commercial space directly across Division Street from Crossroads Center maintained 100 percent occupancy through mid-2026, underscoring how heavily surrounding businesses depend on steady mall traffic, Inventure Real Estate noted. It's a reminder of just how central the mall is to Central Minnesota's retail economy, even as investigators sort out what led to Monday's fire and what charges Ozornia may ultimately face.
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