WICHITA FALLS (KFDX/KJTL) — A man who threatened a target employee when she tried to stop him from shoplifting, set fire to two houses because he didn’t like the owner, is sentenced to prison.
Nicholas Acosta received three years for robbery and three years for two counts of arson, the sentences to be served together.
All three crimes happened within a few weeks of each other last summer.
The robbery happened in July and police say a target employee confronted Acosta while she saw him putting stuff in a backpack.
They say Acosta told her he could take anything he wanted to, and if she tried to stop him, she would be hurt bad.
Police found and arrested him nearby and found a pair of shorts and a pair of shoes inside the pack.
They say after his arrest, he admitted to two recent arsons.
One was in a home at 2004 10th. Acosta said he set it on fire because he was a former tenant of the owner and didn’t like her. The other was in an apartment at 702 Warford.
Investigators say Acosta was seen by witnesses at both locations before or after the fires began.
They say Acosta also said he started this one because the same woman owned it. However, investigators say the woman had sold it before the fire.