EAST PROVIDENCE — The result of a house fire on Apulia Street in the center of the city Tuesday, Aug. 30, took a bit of a bizarre twist when a seeming victim of the blaze was later …
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EAST PROVIDENCE — The result of a house fire on Apulia Street in the center of the city Tuesday, Aug. 30, took a bit of a bizarre twist when a seeming victim of the blaze was later arrested.
According to a dispatch from East Providence Police Detective Corporal Michael Spremulli, Joseph Masi, 29, was taken into custody at the scene of the fire at 24 Apulia St. Masi was being sought for a domestic violence incident that occurred with his ex-girlfriend the previous evening.
Corporal Spremulli's statement read police arrived at the residence of the female victim and learned that Masi had barricaded himself in his ex-girlfriend's bedroom. Officers forced entry into the bedroom and immediately observed heavy smoke and flames. The woman was evacuated, leaving the suspect near a second floor window. Officers persuaded the suspect into jumping out of the window to escape the fire. Masi was taken into custody on the domestic charges and shortly after transported to the hospital for minor injuries. East Providence Fire Department personnel then arrived on scene and extinguished the fire.
After a joint investigation by East Providence Police Detectives, State Fire Marshal’s Office, and the East Providence Fire Marshal, Masi was charged with First Degree Arson. According to police, Masi confessed to setting the fire because he wanted to “harm himself.”
Masi is also being charged with domestic strangulation and failure to relinquish a telephone. He was scheduled to be arraigned on the charges Wednesday morning, Aug. 31, at Sixth District Court.