House set on fire by sex offender, cat inside
New Bedford, MA (US)Incident Date: Thursday, Aug 14, 2008
County: Bristol
Charges: Felony Non-CTA
Disposition: Alleged
Alleged: Mario Fontes Tome
A city police officer is credited with saving three people from a burning building, then arresting the alleged arsonist who is also accused of being an unregistered sex offender.
Police spokesman Lt. Jeffrey Silva said Officer Patrick Reedy responded to 16 Warren St. Thursday to keep the peace between an alleged Level 2 unregistered sex offender, Mario Fontes Tome, 58, of New Bedford, and his former landlords, who are his sister and brother-in-law.
Tome was the defendant in a restraining order recently granted to his sister and her husband and told Reedy that he needed to return to his former third-floor apartment where the restraining order prevented him from going (except with a police officer) to retrieve his cat, Silva said.
Tome told Reedy that pets were not acceptable at his new apartment and he did not know what to do with the cat.
"The officer compassionately offered to attempt to convince the landlords on the first floor to accept the pet," Silva said.
Reedy convinced the landlords to take the cat and when he returned to the third floor to tell Tome, he discovered that Tome had seemingly locked himself inside the third-floor apartment, Silva stated.
Reedy then smelled smoke coming from the apartment and knocked on the door to get Tome to answer, but there was no response.
Reedy called for the Fire Department, but fearing that Tome might be trying to commit suicide, he kicked in the door and found the apartment fully engulfed in flames, but could not see Tome, Silva reported.
Reedy searched for Tome and his cat, but was forced from the apartment by the smoke and flames, Silva said. The officer evacuated the second-floor apartment of its tenant who was unaware of the fire above her, and the first-floor tenants.
Once sure that all were out of the house, Reedy went outside and learned that while he was brokering the deal to adopt Tome's cat, Tome had run out a back door after apparently setting the apartment on fire with the cat still inside, Silva stated.
"It now appears that Tome's story about his concern for the cat was nothing more than a ruse to return to the house in order to set it on fire," Silva alleged.
Reedy learned that when Tome encountered his sister and her husband outside, he argued with them and allegedly assaulted her, Silva said.
Tome then opened a rear door to the officer's cruiser, sat inside behind the caged area and closed the door, effectively placing himself under arrest, Silva said. When Reedy tried to speak to Tome, he refused and asked for a lawyer.
Three firefighters were injured battling the blaze. One suffered serious burns to his arms and could not return to duty. The other two returned to duty after one injured a knee and the other suffered a neck burn.
Tome is charged with six counts of attempted murder (the six tenants), one count each of assault and battery on a person age 60 or older, assault and battery on household member, violating a restraining order, arson of a dwelling, arson of a dwelling causing personal injury, cruelty to an animal and failing to register as a sex offender. References« MA State Animal Cruelty Map
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