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Utah man booked for arson, attempted murder says he set fire, ‘to stop his neighbor from hurting him’

Posted at 7:35 PM, Mar 12, 2017
and last updated 2017-03-13 09:53:20-04

WEST VALLEY CITY, Utah — A man is facing charges of arson and attempted murder after he allegedly started a fire in an apartment complex and then tried to tie his neighbor’s door shut to trap them inside.

According to a statement of probable cause, the fire broke out shortly before 1 a.m. Friday at an apartment complex at 4000 South Redwood Road.

Police ultimately arrested Kyle Stinson, and he allegedly admitted to police, “that he had started a fire in his apartment to attempt to stop his neighbor… from hurting him.”

The statement of probable cause goes on to say that the neighbor was not a threat in this situation and had not made contact with Stinson at all that day. Several other neighbors told police that Stinson had been making banging noises throughout the night as though hitting a wall with a sledgehammer.

The neighbor locked themselves in a bathroom as this noise was going on, and Stinson told police he lit a fire “to stop [the neighbor] from coming through the wall.”

After trying and failing several times, Stinson was able to get a fire going. He allegedly told police he was aware there were other people in the building when he set the fire, and he told police he attempted to stop his neighbor from leaving the apartment by tying his door shut.

“Kyle stated he observed the neighbor’s door knob move as he tied it shut,” police said in the PC statement.

Fire crews said Friday the damage was isolated to Stinson’s apartment.

Stinson was booked into the Salt Lake County Jail on one count of aggravated arson and one count of attempted murder, both of which are first-degree felonies.