Iron County Man Guilty of Starting Fires on National Forest Land

(Poplar Bluff) A man from Iron County on Tuesday admitted to committing a crime spree last October that included arson in the Mark Twain National Forest and the assault of a U.S. Forest Service law enforcement officer.

37-year-old Lucas G. Henson pleaded guilty in federal court in Cape Girardeau to three counts of assaulting a law enforcement officer, arson and being a felon in possession of a firearm.

Henson admitted that after being charged with stealing and drug offenses last year, he was out on bond when he stole a Ford van on October 22nd of 2022 from Patriot Rentals near Poplar Bluff before abandoning it when it ran out of gas.

Later that day, he broke into a camper at Poplar Bluff R.V. Sales and stole items from it.

The next day, he stole a Dodge pickup truck, then burglarized someone’s home and stole a Ruger LC9 9 millimeter handgun.

He also stole a crossbow from a workshop near the home.

When the truck’s owner found Henson, Henson pointed the pistol at the truck’s owner and drove away.

Law enforcement, notified by the truck’s owner, joined the chase.

Henson crashed the truck in the Mark Twain National Forest, then started a fire and burned the handgun and the items that he’d stolen from the camper before fleeing into the forest.

Police began tracking Henson with dogs.

When they got close, he started a fire to prevent being captured.

Henson started a second fire when they approached him again.

Later, he pointed the crossbow at a U.S. Forest Service officer and other officers, before he crossed the Black River and fled again.

Henson was eventually caught near the river.

He admitted his crimes in interviews with officers according to the news release from the U.S. attorney’s office.

The fires burned 7.61 acres of land.

Burn orders were in effect at the time due to dry and windy conditions, and Henson’s fires kept leaping over the fire lines established by fire fighters.

Crews eventually had to construct “dozer lines” to contain the fire and spent over 72-hundred dollars fighting those fires.

Henson will be sentenced June 28th where he could receive a very hefty prison sentence and fine.