Police: Naked Arsonist Tried to Burn Down Tuscaloosa Condo

A Tuscaloosa man has been charged with third-degree arson after he allegedly tried to burn down an apartment building last month, a crime he reportedly committed while naked.

According to court documents filed last Friday, the Tuscaloosa Fire Rescue Service and Tuscaloosa Police officers were called to Harbrooke Down Condominiums on Hargrove Road just before 11 p.m. on May 14th to extinguish and investigate a structure fire at one of the apartments there.

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Emergency responders interviewed witnesses who said a man who lived in the complex had gone into a rampage, throwing objects out of his front door and smashing several of the condo's windows. They also told investigators that the man had set fire to some of the objects he tossed out of the apartment.

Officers cuffed the suspect, a 45-year-old Tuscaloosa man, and wrapped a sheet around his naked body. According to the deposition, the man admitted to starting the fire that brought police and firefighters to the complex.

The man was taken that night to the Tuscaloosa County Jail on an outstanding warrant for failure to appear in court, and two weeks later, on May 27th, an investigator with the city's arson and fire prevention unit formally charged him with third-degree arson.

The suspect had been released on bond by Tuesday afternoon.

Third-degree arson is a Class A misdemeanor and it is the policy of the Tuscaloosa Thread to only identify by name suspects who have been charged with felonies.