MT. VERNON – With help from a neighboring agency, the Mt. Vernon Police Department believes it has identified two suspects reportedly involved in a fire last month at the Mt. Vernon Walmart.

An investigation into the March 22 fire in a bathroom at the store led detectives to post surveillance photos of the two suspects and the vehicle they arrived in at the store.

Salem police officers at the Marion County Jail reportedly identified one of the men in the photos as 42-year-old Eric Dewitt of Salem.

Dewitt was reportedly in the Marion County Jail on unrelated charges when he was served with a Jefferson County arrest warrant for Retail Theft and Theft. He remains in the Marion County Jail on charges of Theft and Burglary.

The Mt. Vernon case was initially investigated as arson after a Walmart employee allegedly found a small propane torch wrapped in toilet paper and left on fire in one of the store’s bathrooms.

It was later determined the torch was being used to consume illegal drugs in a bathroom stall and that the subject dropped the torch when someone else entered the bathroom and the subsequent fire was inadvertently set.

While the fire appears to have been inadvertently set, Jefferson County prosecutors have charged Dewitt with Felony Retail Theft over $300 and Retail Theft with a prior conviction related to the Walmart incident.

The second suspect is not being named at this time but a warrant for his arrest on retail theft charges has been issued.