Debris covers the floor at Pizza Ranch in Jefferson following a fire in January. HERALD FILE PHOTORobert Schultz

Police use texts, location data in arson investigation

Trial set for Sept. 27

By JARED STRONG
j.strong@carrollspaper.com

Police officers obtained the text messages and cellphone location data of the owners of Pizza Ranch in Jefferson to link one of them to the restaurant’s arson in January, according to newly available search warrant documents.

Robert Duane Schultz, 53, of Ankeny, faces three felony charges for the Jan. 27 fire that torched the restaurant’s office and kitchen and damaged nearby buildings with smoke.

He was arrested in April after investigators used several search warrants to obtain cellphone data, financial records and video surveillance recordings.

Officers claim Schultz was deeply in debt and helped start the fire as a way to collect a big insurance payment.

Schultz denies the accusation, and his trial is set for Sept. 27.

There is at least one more pending cellphone records request that officers will use to identify Schultz’s alleged accomplice, Jefferson Police Chief Mark Clouse has said. Such requests are often not part of the public court record for months.

Sgt. Heath Enns, who is leading the investigation, declined to say whether the cellphone location data he has obtained corroborates or conflicts with what Schultz has told police about the night of the fire.

The investigation has revealed that Schultz allegedly doused the restaurant with gasoline in several locations inside the building the night of Jan. 26 and someone else ignited it.

Several people reported smelling gasoline in and near the restaurant in the days that led to the fire, and Schultz claimed he had accidentally spilled some in the restaurant’s dining area as he took it to an employee whose vehicle had run empty.

Schultz told investigators that he left the restaurant about 10:15 p.m. on Jan. 26 and arrived at his Ankeny home about 11:15 p.m.

The fire was reported just after midnight.

Schultz faces felony charges of arson, criminal mischief and insurance fraud.

Schultz told investigators he was “behind on his mortgage payments,” according to court records.

He posted a $25,000 bail bond to get out of jail after his April arrest.

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