WASHINGTON — A man accused of setting a fire in a Clarksburg, Maryland, town house Thursday attacked police officers and firefighters who responded to the scene and “violently resisted” officers’ efforts to arrest him as the house filled with smoke, police say.
The 48-year-old man was eventually arrested and taken to a hospital to be treated for smoke inhalation. Charges against the man are still pending and his identity has not yet been released.
In addition, 10 police officers who responded to the three-story town house in the 22000 block of Fair Garden Lane Thursday evening were sent to the hospital for smoke inhalation and later released, Montgomery County police said.
Police said they showed up to the town house shortly after 5:30 p.m. Thursday after a 911 call from the man’s girlfriend. The woman told police her boyfriend was inside the house and was likely drinking before he became destructive and started a fire in the kitchen.
When firefighters and police entered the house the first time, the man refused to leave the kitchen and began throwing pots and pans as well as burned debris at authorities, police said. Inside the kitchen, the stove was on fire and flames had spread to the surrounding cabinets, forcing authorities to retreat and to begin to evacuate the surrounding town houses.
When authorities entered the house a second time, the man continued to throw objects at them and resisted officers’ attempts to handcuff him as the fire more intense.
Finally, officers, using protective shield, were able to subdue the man after stunning him with a Taser. The injured officers were treated at Holy Cross Hospital in Germantown.
All told, the fire caused about $2,000 in damage.
