Get the latest in local public safety news with this weekly email.

A district judge sentenced a 33-year-old man to probation Tuesday for burning down his rural Lincoln home during a manic episode.

Adam Schutte pleaded guilty to attempted second-degree arson for the incident Sept. 19, 2021.

In court Tuesday, his attorney, Oluseyi Olowolafe, said in 2020, during the pandemic, Schutte was diagnosed with bipolar disorder and was struggling.

"This case, your honor, is about his mental illness, it is about how he was coping and dealing with his mental illness," Olowolafe said.

He said Schutte set his own house on fire in a manic state in an attempt to kill himself but, thankfully, wasn't successful.

Olowolafe said Schutte takes full responsibility for his actions.

"At the same time," he said, "criminalizing the mentally ill because they are suffering from their illness is just outrageous."

He asked Lancaster County District Judge Jodi Nelson to let Schutte continue to seek the mental health help he's been getting since the incident.

Shortly after 7:30 a.m. Sept. 19, 2021, firefighters and rescue workers were called about a fire at Schutte's home near Waverly Road and U.S. 77.

Schutte told a Lancaster County Sheriff's deputy he poured two cans of gasoline on the roof and himself, then lit a fire in the bedroom with a candle and got on the roof.

No one else was home at the time, and Schutte let his dog out before he started the fire.

The prosecutor said the home and the belongings in it were a $370,000 loss.

In the end, Nelson said it was a case where there was tremendous damage done. Not just to property, but also to his family's trust. Spurred by serious mental health issues.

She said Schutte had no prior criminal history and has worked hard afterward to address the difficulties he was facing at the time.

"It is certainly a tragic case in many, many ways," Nelson said, before sentencing Schutte to three years of probation as Schutte wiped away tears.

A firefighter backs off from the heat of the flames Sunday coming from the roof of Romantix, 921 O St. Fire crews responded to the adult novelty store blaze at about 9 a.m. and needed most of the afternoon to extinguish the flames. The building is described as a total loss, but no one was injured.

A massive plume of fire erupts in front of Lincoln firefighters Nick Thill (left) and Mark Sullivan moments after Sullivan ventilated the roof with the blade of his chainsaw at a working fire at 1717 A Street in Lincoln on Wednesday evening, April 6, 2011.

With a fire hose at the ready, Lincoln firefighters look over the underside of a pickup truck which rolled over at the intersection of 16th and L Streets Monday afternoon, April 11, 2011. The scanner call mentioned there was leaking gasoline. One person was taken away on a stretcher to an ambulance.

Marie Yost (left) and Nancy Harter (right) watch from the median on O Street as Lincoln firefighters pour water on the smouldering remains of the Lincoln Public Schools adminstration building on Tuesday morning, May 31, 2011. Harter, who worked in the building for 11 years, said a supervisor contacted staff at 6 a.m. to let them know of the fire.

Heavy smoke envelopes the house fire at 236 S. 27th Street as Lincoln firefighters apply water to the attic fire on Tuesday afternoon, August 16, 2011.

Lincoln Firefighter Nancy Engelbrecht (right) attempts to comfort Shari Elder as Elder watches smoke pour from the apartment building where she lives on Wednesday, March 13, 2013, at 27th and Randolph streets.

Protected against the 1600 degree temperatures emanating from the fire pit, Dorchester Vol. Fire Dept. firefighter Brant Pracheil tosses the Stars and Stripes into the flames on Tuesday, June 14, 2016, during a flag retirement ceremony at the Dorchester American Legion Post 264. A total of 1957 unserviceable flags from the communities of Dorchester, York, Fairmont, Lincoln, Wilber, Fairbury and Crete were retired from life during the ceremony.

The Stars and Strips opens to the swirling wind from the ladder of Lincoln Fire & Rescue Truck 1 on Friday, March 31, 2017, during the bridge dedication ceremony for Staff Sgt. Patrick Hamburger at the Spirit of '76 Armory.

Surrounded by black smoke, a Lincoln Fire Department firefighter uses a pike pole to open the porch ceiling at the scene of a house fire on Wednesday, Jan. 2, 2019, at 1800 Euclid Avenue.

Matt Barnard, with Beatrice Rural Fire District, uses a torch to spread flames during a prescribed burn of 45 acres of the prairie at Homestead National Monument of America on Wednesday, Oct. 20, 2010.

Lincoln Fire and Rescue teams help Alex Lekai and his mother, not pictured, evacuate from her south bottoms home on Thursday, May 7, 2015.

Cuddling her grandson's dog Milo, homeowner Deborah Ganz is consoled by a neighbor as she watches her garage burn on Wednesday, April 6, 2016, in west Lincoln.

A Lincoln firefighter directs his hose on the roof of La Mexicana Market & Restaurant, 17th and P Streets, on Monday, April 13, 2015.

Reach the writer at 402-473-7237 or lpilger@journalstar.com.

Get the latest in local public safety news with this weekly email.

Lori Pilger is a Norfolk native and University of Nebraska-Lincoln graduate who has been a public safety reporter for the Journal Star since 2005.

Email notifications are only sent once a day, and only if there are new matching items.

The alleged robber approached the group around 9 p.m. Thursday as a 45-year-old woman took photos of her daughter at the scenic city park.

"Anything discovered after the illegal detention and arrest ... must be excluded as fruit of the poisonous tree," the judge wrote.

Another 364 speeding citations were issued for drivers traveling between 90 and 99 mph, according to the patrol. 

Get up-to-the-minute news sent straight to your device.