The arrest was made after the alleged terrorist attack in Las Vegas – the attacker left a key piece of evidence after the power facility was turned off

A 34-year-old man was arrested after a car was set on fire at a power plant near Las Vegas.

Mohammed Mesmarian is charged with committing an act of terrorism, first-degree arson, third-degree arson, destroying or damaging another person’s real or personal property, and escaping the perpetrator, police said. Las Vegas Sun.

Arrest associated with incident at the Mega Solar Array facility near Las Vegas on Wednesday.

The facility provides power to 13 MGM properties on the Las Vegas Strip.

A Muslim man has been charged with terrorism after he rammed his car into the gates of a solar power plant outside of Las Vegas and set his car on fire, knocking out a huge facility. Mohammed Mesmarian reportedly watched the car burn. The fire caused “great damage”.https://t.co/dvxpKuSrDv

— Militant Islamic Monitor (@MIslamMonitor) January 8, 2023

Police believe the incident was not part of wider attack. Aside from his age, police have not released any other details about the suspect.

According to KLAS-TVthe man rammed the facility’s gate before setting his car on fire.

Police were called to the site around 11:30 a.m. Wednesday when a smoldering car was found in the generator pit.

Police believe the vehicle was driven into the facility on Tuesday after all the workers left for the day.

Citing police documents, KLAS said police have video of Mesmarian setting a car on fire around midnight Wednesday.

According to these documents, Mesmarian sat in a chair watching the fire for about 15 minutes before leaving the facility.

Investigators allege that Mesmarian drained the gasoline from the car’s fuel tank to run wires near the transformer.

Unfortunately for Mesmarian, he apparently left some key evidence linking him to the alleged burning car incident.

The documents say two laptops and an iPhone containing an account linked to Mesmarian were found in the burnt car.

Messarian was arrested on Thursday in a campground in Boulder Beach, which is located on Lake Mead.

“Mesmarian clarified that he burned down a Toyota Camry a couple of days ago,” police were quoted as saying by KLAS, adding that he told them he “burned the car at a Tesla solar plant and did it ‘for the future’.”

The extent of the damage was uncertain. KLAS said a plant employee, who was not named, told police that the fire had caused “serious damage” and that it could be two years before spare parts could be delivered. The Las Vegas Sun reported that an Invenergy spokesperson said the Mega Solar Array facility will be fully operational this week.

“Following the incident at the Mega Solar Array facility, personnel on site immediately notified authorities and shut down plant operations as a precautionary measure in accordance with standard safety protocols,” an Invenergy spokesperson said. “No one was hurt and we are currently fully restoring the facility.”

solar battery was introduced in 2021, according to Hotel management. The array included 323,000 solar panels spread across 640 acres.