Five men arrested for setting fires in Coast Walmart stores, indictment says

Five men have been arrested and indited for setting fires to a string of Walmart stores across the south, two of which were located on the Mississippi Coast.

The fires were part of an extortion attempt, according to the indictment. The suspects hoped to get Walmart to meet a set of demands in a manifesto titled “Declaration of War and Demands for the People.”

The five men were arrested after an indictment by an Alabama grand jury. Jeffrey Sikes, Sean Bottorff, Michael Bottorff, Quinton Olson and Alexander Olson face various charges, including malicious destruction by fire.

The arrests come over nine months after the first fire was set at a Walmart in Mobile, Alabama, on May 27, 2021.

The second fire was set on May 28, 2021, in a separate Mobile based Walmart

The third fire took place at a Gulfport Walmart store on June 4, 2021, when “a heavily disguised male and female” entered the store and set fires in the garden center and sporting goods sections, according to the indictment.

Later that day, suspects entered a Walmart in Biloxi located on Switzer Road and started a fire in the home goods section.

The fires were set by drenching clothing racks with lighter fluid, the affidavit says.

Five men were aided by three women who are not charged in the indictment, according to the report.

Following the second fire, investigators say Olson purchased a burner phone and created an email called “theveteransorder@gmail.com.”

The phone was then used to take pictures of “Declaration of War and Demands for the People, a six-page document written by a group who called themselves “The Veterans Order,” records say.

The indictment says the manifesto references the fires and “makes demands of Walmart related to the company’s interstate and foreign commerce business practices” and threatened more fires if demands weren’t met.

The pictures of the document were sent to various media outlets in Mobile.

At the time of the fires all five defendants were living with three adult females in a rental house in Lillian, Alabama near Gulf Shores and Orange Beach.

According to Al.com, all the defendants intend to plead not guilty and the trial is expected to start in May.