BIG COTTONWOOD CANYON — A 34-year-old man accused of intentionally setting small fires in Big Cottonwood Canyon has been charged.
Garret Jay Boyd, who is believed to be homeless, was charged Friday in 3rd District Court with arson, a second-degree felony, and failing to stop for police, a class A misdemeanor.
On April 14, deputies from the Salt Lake County Sheriff’s Office responded to reports of “an individual intentionally setting fires in Big Cottonwood Canyon,” according to charging documents. Deputies found evidence of multiple small fires that had been set and had smoldered out on their own.
“This created a substantial risk of a widespread wildfire and posed a grave danger of physical harm to first responders,” prosecutors stated in their charges…