BUCKLEY, Wash. — Authorities are looking for a man who allegedly set a fire to a neighbor’s house Saturday evening near Buckley, according to the Pierce County Sheriff’s Office.
The incident happened when East Pierce firefighters responded to a report of a house fire in the 6800 block of 245th Avenue East.
According to the sheriff’s office, 52-year-old Lonnie Leroy Tate used a baseball bat to break the windows of the home before using gasoline to start the fire. Tate lived a block away from the house.
A woman was inside the home, but she escaped from the back of the house and was not hurt.
Witnesses in the neighborhood told KIRO 7 Eyewitness News that they heard Tate arguing with a woman, perhaps a girlfriend.
According to investigators, the woman and Tate have not had contact with each other, and there is not a known history between the two.
When deputies arrived, they searched the area for Tate with a K9 and found him after he fled the scene into a wooded area.
Authorities tased Tate twice, but he got away.
According to the sheriff’s office, he was not armed, but may be a danger to himself or others.
KIRO
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