CLEVES, Ohio — A paramedic captain was injured after wresting a 63-year-old arson suspect to the ground after the man poured gasoline on his neighbor’s fire pit and threatened to burn his house down.
James Weaver, 63, was arrested and charged with aggravated arson, aggravated menacing and assualt, FOX 19 and WLWT reported.
According the Hamilton County Sheriff’s Office, Weaver approached his neighbor’s fire pit with a can of gasoline Saturday evening.
“Well, he came from the shed, and he goes ‘I’ll give you a fire,’ Alan Fuller told WLWT. “Then he starts dumping gas all over everything.”
Weaver threatened to burn the man’s house down, poured gas onto the fire pit and nearby wood pile, and splashed the gas on the neighbor and another man. They were trying to restrain him when responders arrived.
Weaver, who was also drenched in gasoline, tried to punch Western Joint Ambulance District Captain Jim Corbin as he attempted to move him away from the fire for his own safety. Corbin and other responders wrestled him to the ground. Corbin suffered an injury to his right wrist and was treated at an emergency room.
Deputies arrived and took Weaver into custody.