Man who set tent of double amputee on fire at encampment pleads guilty

A Minneapolis man pleaded guilty last week to setting the tent of a homeless double amputee on fire in 2023.

Anthony Curtis Leikas, 34, pleaded guilty to one count of first-degree assault causing great bodily harm in exchange for just over 13 years (158 months) in prison. That plea deal still needs to be approved by a judge.

As previously reported, on Dec. 5, 2023, just before 1 a.m., officers from the Minneapolis Police Department (MPD) were called to an area near Glenwood Avenue and Twins Way on a report that a 57-year-old wheelchair-bound man had been set on fire, according to a criminal complaint.

At the scene, officers found the man, who is a double-amputee, lying on the ground with severe burns to his body. Law enforcement also noticed the victim’s badly burned wheelchair nearby.

Before being brought to the hospital, the victim told law enforcement someone had started his tent on fire and he had been burning for quite some time, adding that he heard Leikas say “burn in hell” as he started the fire.

Surveillance footage of the scene showed Leikas stopping by the victim’s tent before walking away as the tent quickly went up in flames, the complaint states. Officials say the fire was started about an hour before law enforcement arrived at the scene.

Using surveillance video, law enforcement tracked Leikas as he walked to a gas station on Fifth Street North. Images from inside the gas station match images of Leikas at the scene, according to the complaint.