The Louisiana Office of State Fire Marshal has arrested a 17-year-old from Jennings for allegedly setting the home of his ex-girlfriend on fire almost two months ago in Lake Arthur.
The teen, according to officials, was booked into the Jefferson Davis Parish Jail Wednesday, May 2, for one count of Aggravated Arson.
The OSFM was contacted by the Lake Arthur Fire Department Wednesday, May 2, following new evidence from a house fire in the 400 block of Kellogg Avenue that led them to believe a different cause than originally determined.
Investigators say they believed the fire was due to a window unit malfunction. Recently, the homeowner contacted the fire department claiming she learned her daughter’s ex-boyfriend, the 17-year-old, admitted via text message to setting the fire “out of anger and jealousy.”
Investigators say the teen confessed to lighting a gas-covered sock on fire and placing it in the holes of the window unit during an interview. He also allegedly admitted knowing there were five people inside of the home at the time he set the fire.
The cause of the fire was reclassified as incendiary and the teen was arrested for one count of Aggravated Arson.
