bloodrayne
03-29-2005, 11:44 AM
Fire Leaves Pacific Families Homeless
Man arrested after blaze destroys apartment building
Seattle, Washington - An 18-year-old Pacific man burned down his apartment building yesterday after trying to set his mother on fire, police said.
The blaze left four families without homes early on Easter morning.
According to police accounts, the man lit his bedroom on fire, then turned on his 42-year-old mother, squirting lighter fluid at her while trying to light the stream. Police believe he then ran out of the upstairs apartment, shut the door and held the doorknob for a while to prevent his mother, sister and an unrelated guest from escaping.
The fire was set shortly after 3 a.m. yesterday and destroyed the four-unit rental complex on Second Place Southeast, in a residential neighborhood near the railroad tracks in Pacific. No one was seriously injured. Damage to the building and contents was estimated at about $500,000.
Nine people were displaced by the fire, five of whom, besides the suspect, were in the building at the time. The suspect's family and a woman in another unit were given shelter by the American Red Cross yesterday morning.
The man, who fled on foot to a nearby Auburn grocery store, was arrested two hours later and booked into King County Jail on investigation of attempted murder and arson, police said.
This wasn't his first brush with law enforcement, said Pacific police Sgt. Jim Pickett.
During the past two years, police have questioned him for minor incidents, such as malicious mischief and traffic violations, Pickett said.
As recently as Friday, officers were called to the apartment after the 18-year-old got into an argument with his 21-year-old sister.
According to police, the sister had been using the speakerphone feature on her wireless phone and this annoyed her younger brother. The young man then threatened to "beat the cell phone with a stick," Pickett said.
Police suggested, and the young man agreed, that he should seek a mental health assessment at Auburn Regional Medical Center, which he did. Apparently, the prospect of returning to the hospital for more evaluation sparked the later argument with his mother, police said.
Man arrested after blaze destroys apartment building
Seattle, Washington - An 18-year-old Pacific man burned down his apartment building yesterday after trying to set his mother on fire, police said.
The blaze left four families without homes early on Easter morning.
According to police accounts, the man lit his bedroom on fire, then turned on his 42-year-old mother, squirting lighter fluid at her while trying to light the stream. Police believe he then ran out of the upstairs apartment, shut the door and held the doorknob for a while to prevent his mother, sister and an unrelated guest from escaping.
The fire was set shortly after 3 a.m. yesterday and destroyed the four-unit rental complex on Second Place Southeast, in a residential neighborhood near the railroad tracks in Pacific. No one was seriously injured. Damage to the building and contents was estimated at about $500,000.
Nine people were displaced by the fire, five of whom, besides the suspect, were in the building at the time. The suspect's family and a woman in another unit were given shelter by the American Red Cross yesterday morning.
The man, who fled on foot to a nearby Auburn grocery store, was arrested two hours later and booked into King County Jail on investigation of attempted murder and arson, police said.
This wasn't his first brush with law enforcement, said Pacific police Sgt. Jim Pickett.
During the past two years, police have questioned him for minor incidents, such as malicious mischief and traffic violations, Pickett said.
As recently as Friday, officers were called to the apartment after the 18-year-old got into an argument with his 21-year-old sister.
According to police, the sister had been using the speakerphone feature on her wireless phone and this annoyed her younger brother. The young man then threatened to "beat the cell phone with a stick," Pickett said.
Police suggested, and the young man agreed, that he should seek a mental health assessment at Auburn Regional Medical Center, which he did. Apparently, the prospect of returning to the hospital for more evaluation sparked the later argument with his mother, police said.