McLennan Community College Police arrested a man early Thursday morning after they found him starting a fire in the trunk of a car while a two-year-old girl was in the backseat, according to a spokesperson with the college.
An officer making rounds spotted the man, identified as Jake Laskowski, 24, just after midnight. Waco Police, the fire department and EMS were called to the scene.
The McLennan County Sheriff's Office also used its helicopter to search the area with thermal imaging but they did not find anyone, according to Lisa Elliott, the Director of Marketing and Communications for MCC.
Elliott said Laskowski was checked by EMS then taken to the McLennan County Jail. He's facing charges of injury to a child, child endangerment and aggravated assault with intent to cause death.
The girl was not injured and was taken into the custody of Child Protective Services.
"We want the public to know we feel like this is an isolated incident. Our faculty and staff is safe and there's nothing to worry about," said Elliott. "We have a police department on campus and they did a great job of mitigating this incident and probably saved someone's life this morning."
Police found Laskowski, who is a MCC student, in parking lot I, right in front of the old arts center and across the street from the science building, said Elliott.
The college opened as normal Thursday morning.