Orange police arrested a 24-year-old man for arson in connection with setting small fires in a unit at the Sabine River Park apartments on Pine Avenue Sunday night.
Fire Marshal John Bilbo said firefighters extinguished the fires and the apartment had light smoke damage and burned textiles.
Patrol Officer Perry reported he saw a large amount of smoke billowing out the front door of the apartment when he arrived at 10 p.m.
After the fire was out, Officer Perry found a large burned area in a back upstairs bedroom. The front upstairs bedroom had a burned roll of paper towels that had been set on top of a bed in an attempt to set the linens and mattress on fire.
People living at the unit told police a relative had threatened to set the apartment on fire.
Officer Perry said the man accused of setting the fires could barely walk because of “the level of his intoxication.” The man was taken by Acadian Ambulance to Baptist Hospital Orange Emergency Room to be checked. He was later taken to the Orange County Jail.
Lamar Maiden faces a charge of felony arson plus a retaliation charge in connection with a threat made to the officer.
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