Man Arrested After House Set On Fire

A Parkland man set fire to a house where his ex-girlfriend was staying after locking himself inside, firing more than a dozen shots and killing a dog, the Pierce County sheriff’s office said.

The man was arrested when, gasping for air, he knocked out a window and leaned out of the smoke-filled house, sheriff’s spokesman Curt Benson said.

The incident began Tuesday after the man’s former girlfriend called deputies to complain that he was harassing her.

Deputies went to the man’s house to serve five arrest warrants relating to domestic violence charges.

But when they arrived, the man sped away in his pickup, Benson said.

Deputies called to warn the ex-girlfriend, who was at her parents’ house, so everyone could get out of the house.

When the man arrived at her parents’ home, he drove his pickup truck into the front of the house. He went inside the house and fired more than a dozen rounds, Benson said.

Then, the man started a fire, which did a substantial amount of damage to the home, Benson said.

The man was arrested for investigation of first-degree burglary, first-degree arson and animal cruelty as well as the outstanding warrants.