A 28-year-old man was arrested for allegedly starting a fire near a creek in Santa Rosa over the weekend, according to police.
Around 7 a.m. Saturday, officers were alerted to multiple calls about a man acting aggressively and who may have started a fire along the south side of the Santa Rosa Creek Trail, west of the 1500 block of Apple Creek Lane. A caller reported that the man had armed himself with a metal pole or stick. Another caller told responding officers the man was seen with a lighter near the scene of the fire.
When police and firefighters arrived, the suspicious man was gone, according to police.
But as crews were extinguishing the fire and assessing the damage, they saw the suspect nearby and requested a police officer to return. The officer arrived and approached the suspect, who was at the time holding a small lighter and repeatedly igniting the lighter’s flame while ignoring the officer’s instructions. The suspect then ran away from the scene, police said.