Matthew Ian Zarit
Park City, Utah – A local Park City chiropractor was sentenced to five years in federal prison on April 2, 2009. Matthew Ian Zarit, 37, pleaded guilty on January 8, 2009 to felony charges in U.S. District Court for attempting to burn down his office with an improvised explosive device on the evening of June 2, 2008. Tena Campbell, U.S. District Court Judge, sentenced Zarit to five years in prison and three years on supervised release.
Zarit was arrested shortly after he placed the improvised bomb in his office building on 1901 Prospector Avenue. The incendiary device consisted of sodium hydroxide, road flares, several gallons of gasoline, and a fuse, according to the Park City Police Department.
On the evening Zarit placed the “bomb”, another doctor in the same building was working late and happened to literally trip over the bomb equipment. The Salt Lake Bomb Squad neutralized the device and removed the dangerous chemicals. Police found Zarit at his home in Holladay shortly after. Upon questioning he admitted that he was trying to burn the building down to collect insurance money.
Zarit was apparently under severe financial stresses that lead him to concoct his plan. One Park City local reached for comment stated that Zarit overbilled for his chiropractic visit just two weeks prior to the incident and vigorously attempted to set future visits which may have been an indication of Zarit’s severe financial issues.
While Dr.Zarit was an incompetent bomb maker, he was a well skilled chiropractor and was quite good at providing relief to those suffering from chiropractic issues.
