Woonsocket

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Man faces charge of arson in house fire

01:00 AM EDT on Friday, July 6, 2007

By Kia Hall Hayes

Journal Staff Writer

WOONSOCKET — A 25-year-old man was arrested Wednesday for allegedly setting fire to his Blackstone Street home.

Intha Pathammavong, of 52 Blackstone St., was charged with third-degree arson, a felony, for the incident. According to police reports, the man eventually admitted to setting the fire to the complex while being questioned by the police. No one was injured in the fire, which damaged a portion of the building’s exterior.

Officers responded to the area after members of the Fire Department told the police that the fire may have been intentional, and one firefighter showed officers a charred vacuum cleaner leaning against the building, which looked like it had been set on fire.

About 10 feet away from the vacuum cleaner, officers found trash that looked like it had also been set on fire. A female witness told investigators that Pathammavong told her that he was angry with his landlord and wanted to set fire to the building.

Pathammavong, who was standing nearby, initially told the police that he tried to put out the blaze. After he was brought in for questioning, the man changed his story, telling officers that a friend came to his house and urged Pathammavong to start the fire because the friend didn’t like where Pathammavong lived.

Pathammavong said that didn’t want to set the fire, but did so after the friend gave him a lighter. When the two heard fire trucks coming to the house, the friend ran home, and Pathammavong ran to a nearby bar to call for help.

Contacted to confirm the man’s story, the friend told the police that he did not talk to Pathammavong and was at his mother’s house for the entire day. The mother confirmed her son’s story.

Pathammavong was arraigned Wednesday night in District Court. He was released on $1,000 personal recognizance.

Woonsocket

khayes@projo.com

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