KDSN RADIO News
Dallas County woman faces Attempted Murder & Arson charges in connection w/a weekend fire in Perry
Police said a fire was reported at 1215 Bateman St. in Perry around 12:30 a.m. Saturday. The property is a two-story home with a downstairs and an upstairs apartment, both occupied. First responders found a fire on the west side of the building by a back door and a van parked next to the house in flames. Those fires were quickly put out.
During the investigation, officers determined the fire was intentionally set and identified Diaz as the suspect. Diaz is the estranged wife of one of the residents of the lower-level apartment. Police said that the day before, Diaz had rented a vehicle from Avis in Johnston and used the rental car to drive to the house in Perry and flee after starting the fire.
Around 5 a.m. Saturday, a license plate reader near Kearney, Nebraska, flagged the vehicle, corroborating officers’ information that Diaz might be fleeing to California. Diaz was later stopped around 2 p.m. by a Colorado State Trooper on Interstate 74 in Eagle County, Colorado. She was taken into custody without incident and booked into the Eagle County Jail, where she is now awaiting extradition back to Iowa.
