2 charged with throwing Molotov cocktails into Dakota County government building

Two men have been charged after allegedly throwing Molotov cocktails into a Dakota County government building.

The U.S. Attorney's Office says 24-year-old Garrett Patrick Ziegler and 32-year-old Fornandous Cortez Henderson are each charged with one count of arson and one count of possession of unregistered destructive devices.

According to a criminal complaint, Apple Valley police were called to a fire alarm at the Dakota County Western Service Center in the early morning hours of May 29. When they arrived, officers found broken windows, smoke and flames coming from the west side of the building where judges' chambers and clerks' offices are located.

The complaint states officers found items consistent with those used in Molotov cocktails, including broken glass jars and liquor bottles, push pins, intact jars with ignitable liquid and a charred red bandana.

It also states that officers found a set of car keys in the grass near the center belonging to a Ford Fiesta parked in a neighboring business' parking lot. After executing a search warrant, officers found the vehicle was registered to Ziegler and contained items such as liquor bottles, a receipt for three bandanas, partially full and empty boxes of push pins, a box for mason jars and empty bottles of lighter fluid and isopropyl alcohol.

Ziegler and Henderson were later found on a road near the Dakota County Western Service Center and were taken into custody.