Authorities arrested a city woman for allegedly trying to burn down an Old Town apartment building early Friday morning.
Beatrice Thompson, 20, was charged with burning an occupied house after fire officials received a call about an individual setting small fires at a 900 block Gibbon St. building at 12:56 a.m. Firefighters found “light” smoke emanating from underneath the front door of one of the garden-style apartments when they arrived, officials said.
Investigators determined several fires had been set in the building and authorities stopped and arrest Thompson nearby, according to authorities.
“They saw her leaving the scene and stopped her and through the course of the investigation they were able to connect her back to where the fires were set,” said Chief Fire Marshal Bob Rodriguez.
The fires caused about $15,000 in damages, but no one was injured. A single tenant was relocated because of the damages, officials said.
Authorities continue to look into the incident. What Thompson allegedly used to set the fires likewise remains under investigation.
-Derrick Perkins