Arson arrest in fire at Texas Islamic Center

HOUSTON-- A suspect has been arrested and charged with arson in connection with a fire at the Quba Islamic Institute last week, reports CBS affiliate KHOU.

Darryl Ferguson, 55, was arrested around 4 p.m. Monday and charged with felony first degree arson.

Court records show Ferguson has an extensive criminal history made up of charges like drug possession and prostitution.

According to the Houston Chronicle, as Ferguson was being taken into custody he said that the blaze was "an accident." The newspaper reports that investigators were searching for him near the Islamic Center, Ferguson, who is reportedly a transient, arrived on the scene on his bicycle and agreed to talk to authorities.

"We're glad that whoever did this is not on the street anymore to perhaps do it somewhere else, just that we're a little bit safer," said Ahsan Zahid, assistant imam at the Quba Islamic Institute, adding that the sense of safety is tempered. "It's a bad thing whether you look it as a hate crime or you look at it as an accident but when you look at it as an accident you know somebody made a mistake."