Lennox and Addington OPP and Loyalist firefighters were called to an Amherstview home to respond to a fire in a garage on Monday, only to have the owner of the home refuse to allow authorities inside to quell the flames, according to provincial police.
OPP say a resident of the home on Manitou Crescent, 51-year-old John Woodman, was burning something inside a barrel in his garage, and a small fire spread outside the barrel.
An elderly woman was inside the home. Woodman would not allow firefighters inside the garage or the home, authorities say.
OPP were called, and the man allegedly jumped out the back window of the home and ran to Highway 33, where officers caught up with him and arrested him.
According to OPP, the man told officers he lit the fire in his garage to keep warm while he and a friend hung out in the garage. But OPP say that spaceheaters were found operating in the garage.
Police say they also found that the man was in possession of cocaine and methamphetamine.
He was charged with:
- mischief under $5,000
- mischief endangering life
- possession of methamphetamine
- possession of cocaine
- arson, damage to property