A South Carolina man questioned for starting three fires at an apartment complex about 12 miles outside of Nashville told police he witnessed a Black man ignite the third blaze that consumed an entire apartment building.
Joshua Spain, 26, was arrested on Saturday, Dec. 14, and charged with two counts of reckless arson, one count of felony arson, disorderly conduct, making a false report and disorderly conduct.
Firefighters were initially called to extinguish two dumpster fires in the parking lot of an Antioch, Tennessee, apartment complex on Dec. 5. An hour after extinguishing the smaller blaze, firefighters were called back to the scene when one of the buildings in the complex was engulfed in flames, according to WKRN. Crews worked into the morning to contain the larger fire. Fortunately, no one was hurt.
It turns out Spain provided authorities with a major lead as they opened their investigation. Court documents reveal a man dressed in a black cowboy hat and dark clothing was spotted at the apartments during each of the fires. The suspect, matching Spain’s description, was captured on surveillance footage walking towards the building carrying a large black item just before midnight on Dec. 4.
The suspect was seen leaving the area a few minutes later with “fire growth visible in the background,” according to the documents.
The man in the cowboy hat returned to the building about 10 minutes later carrying several large pieces of cardboard, officials said. Around 12:40 a.m. on Dec. 6, he was spotted leaving the scene from the direction of the fire and looking back as the fire spread.
Police said Spain “provided a detailed account” of how the apartment fire was started, but not by him. He alleged it was started by a Black man using an antifreeze bottle and a green lighter.
Spain said he tried to intervene as the man added cardboard to fuel the fire. He claimed he was assaulted. He also told investigators he called 911 to report the fires but hung up after describing the wrongly accused Black suspect.
But the footage “provided no evidence of any Black male in the area before or during the three fire incidents,” police concluded.
Based on the video evidence, witness statements and, ultimately, the suspect’s own confession, police said they are confident Spain set all three fires. He was arrested on Dec. 15 and is being held in jail on a $47,500 bond and on a mental health hold.
The man — later identified as Spain — had reportedly told fire investigators that he was the person responsible for the dumpster fires, officials said.
