A Manning man faces felony arson charges in connection to reported haybale fires in rural Carroll County last month. Carroll County District Court records show 33-year-old Jacob Harry Jacobsen was arrested Sunday, Dec. 4 by the Carroll County Sherriff’s Office for second-degree arson, a class C felony. The charge stems from an investigation into a Nov. 29 call for the Manning and Templeton Fire Departments to extinguish bales that had been set ablaze in a field near the intersection of Concord Avenue and 290th Street north of Manning. Authorities determined a truck owned by Jacobsen’s employer had been stopped in the area before the fires, and law enforcement requested GPS information from the company regarding his use of the vehicle. That data connected Jacobsen to at least one other of several suspicious fires in the Manning area. Jacobsen was released from custody earlier this week on his own recognizance. His preliminary hearing is scheduled for Thursday, Dec. 22. A class C felony in Iowa carries a maximum penalty of up to 10 years in prison and $10,000 in fines.
