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.
Witnesses in the neighborhood told KIRO 7 Eyewitness News that they heard Tate arguing with a woman, perhaps a girlfriend.
A woman was inside the home, but she escaped from the back of the house and was not hurt.
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.