A man was taken into custody on suspicion of setting a fire that damaged three apartments at a complex in Pleasant Hill on Tuesday night, according to police.
Officers and firefighters responded shortly before 9 p.m. to a report of an explosion and smoke in the 1400 block of Contra Costa Boulevard and arrived to find an apartment engulfed in flames, Pleasant Hill police said.
Several people reported seeing a man limping away from the apartment complex while carrying two large kitchen knives. Officers found the man, who did not obey their commands and began injuring himself with the knives. An officer used bean bag munitions to take the man, Marlon Perry, 58, into custody. Perry was taken to a hospital and is expected to survive, according to police.
Firefighters extinguished the fire and found evidence it was intentionally set by Perry. Three apartments had fire and smoke damage but no one was injured. Police said Perry will eventually be booked into county jail on suspicion of arson.
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Anyone with information about the case is encouraged to call the Pleasant Hill police investigations bureau at (925) 288-4630.
