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City man charged in arson |
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Thursday, 13 November 2008 |
WOONSOCKET — A 32-year-old city man was arrested Tuesday after he set a fire in the hallway of a 10-unit apartment building at 2029 Diamond Hill Road, police said.
Everett P. Massotti, address unavailable, was arraigned in District Court Wednesday on one count of first-degree arson. He was ordered held without bail at the ACI pending a hearing Nov. 26, according to court records.
Police arrested Massotti outside the damaged building about 8:30 p.m., shortly after firefighters responded. Residents had already put out the fire with an extinguisher, police said. No one was injured.
Massotti was arguing with firefighters and tenants when they arrived, police said. Officers said Massotti had been drinking and that he was “aggressive” and “irrational.”
Massotti was arrested after police interviewed witnesses who told them they had seen him set fire to a piece of fabric in the hallway and then leave the building, part of the sprawling Walnut Hill complex. Another tenant told police Massotti came to her apartment a week ago and angrily demanded to know where her friend was before he left, threatening to return and “burn the building down.”
Still other witnesses said they had seen Massotti in the hallway shortly before the fire. They asked him to leave but he refused, prompting one man to forcibly push him out of the building.
There was no estimate of the damage, but police said the fire melted several stairs and the hallway was covered with extinguisher dust. They said it would take a thorough cleaning to restore the building to normal. |
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Last Updated ( Friday, 14 November 2008 )
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