NEWS
Competency questioned for homeless man seen fleeing burning boarding school in Santa Fe
Judge granted motion to determine competency based on 'interactions' with defense attorney
A court motion has been filed to assess the competency of a man who was arrested after fleeing a shuttered Santa Fe school that caught fire earlier this month.
The defense attorney for 35-year-old Anthony Dault filed the motion Thursday to see whether Dault 鈥 who is charged with criminal trespass, a petty misdemeanor 鈥 is competent to stand trial.
Dault was arrested July 2 after police said he was spotted fleeing St. Catherine鈥檚 Indian School as it caught fire. The former boarding school in Santa Fe has been closed since 1998.
Dault has not been charged in connection with the fire. Santa Fe police collected swabs from his arms and hands to test for accelerants. The results of those tests remain unclear.
Court records show that the corrections officer who booked Dault into the Santa Fe County jail told authorities he 鈥渄etected a strong odor resembling fuel or a similar gasoline-like substance鈥 on him.
Santa Fe Municipal Court Judge Chad Chittum granted the motion to evaluate Dault鈥檚 competency, which was called into question 鈥渂ased on interactions with defense counsel.鈥
Dault鈥檚 attorney, Meghan Thomas, a public defender with the city of Santa Fe, declined to comment on the case and referred questions to the city. Santa Fe is the only municipality in New Mexico with a staff public defender, according to the Law Offices of the Public Defender.
Santa Fe spokesperson Peter Olson said the city has begun demolishing the burned building so that the fire marshal 鈥渃an access the site for their investigation.鈥
鈥淭his process will take a couple of days,鈥 Olson said.
Dault, who was living on the streets but is originally from Michigan, has been arrested several times.
In late 2024, he was sentenced to 181 days of probation after pleading guilty to public nuisance. Dault had initially been charged with arson after reportedly starting a small fire in Torrance County.
In May 2025, Dault was arrested after assaulting customers and staff at Catalyst Coffee, telling officers he was a CIA agent and 鈥渨orked for President Biden,鈥 according to court records. In September 2025, he was charged with breaking and entering after being found inside a vacant room at the former Lamplighter Inn, telling officers he 鈥渨as a secret agent, allowed to be here and was previously incarcerated by a racist cop.鈥
The competency motion includes the first details released of Dault鈥檚 arrest outside the boarding school last week.
Police were called around 4 p.m. after a naked man was spotted fleeing the building soon after the fire sparked, according to a probable cause statement filed in Santa Fe Municipal Court. An officer found Dault lying under a tree nearby with severe cuts to his knee, shoulder and back.
The statement alleged Dault was taken into custody and was covered in ash with a 鈥渟moky odor.鈥 Dault told police he 鈥渄id not wish to answer any questions regarding the fire.鈥
鈥淎 search incident to arrest was deemed unnecessary, given that he was completely unclothed apart from a pair of black Adidas shoes,鈥 an officer wrote in the statement.
While Dault was being booked into the Santa Fe County Adult Detention Center, a corrections officer said he had a gasoline-like odor and some of his hair was singed, according to the statement.
The statement read, 鈥淎nthony faces charges of criminal trespass, as the investigation continues to determine whether he was a contributing factor to the fire at St. Catherine's school.鈥