Kent Police arrested a 22-year-old Kent man for investigation of arson and multiple counts of assault after he reportedly tried to burn down an apartment he shared with his 19-year-old girlfriend who he allegedly attacked several times over a year.
Valley SWAT helped arrest the man March 26, according to a March 31 Kent Police statement. Officers arrested the man for investigation of first-degree arson, two counts of second-degree assault, four counts of third-degree assault and four counts of fourth-degree assault.
An officer was dispatched March 9 to an apartment on 88th Avenue South for a domestic violence call, according to police. The Kent woman called 911 to report that her belongings had been damaged by her boyfriend. She showed the officer broken items in the apartment and said her boyfriend had broken them while angry. The damages totaled more than $2,000.
The man had fled to an unknown location before officers arrived.
Ten days later, the woman called a detective to report an additional assault by the man. She said her boyfriend of two years attempted to start a fire inside their shared apartment while she hid in a balcony closet. The man reportedly turned on all of the stove burners, put flammable items on them and fled. The woman was able to put out the fire before it spread.
A detective then learned from interviewing the woman that a pattern of abuse allegedly had gone on for more than a year, with repeated beatings and strangulations, some of which occurred while she was pregnant with their now 7-month-old baby, according to police.
A detective asked for the assistance of the Kent Police Special Investigations Unit, the Renton Police Department, Lacey Police Department, Thurston County Sheriff’s Office Narcotics Task force and the state Department of Corrections to help find the man.
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