House set on fire with dog inside
Muskogee, OK (US)Incident Date: Friday, Apr 1, 2011
County: Muskogee
Disposition: Alleged
Alleged: Primrose Lester
A Muskogee woman was arrested Friday after allegedly setting fire to her home with the family dog inside.
Primrose Lester was booked into the Muskogee County/City Detention Facility on complaints of assault and battery, arson, animal cruelty and child endangerment.
Lester, 34, is accused of assaulting Ryan Dorsel with a 2-by-4 piece of lumber at the home they shared on Girard Street, said Police Lt. Bobby Lee.
Lester then took her three children from the home and had them sit outside in her van before she went back into the house.
"She poured gas in a bedroom and set the house on fire with the dog inside," Lee said. "He (Dorsel) tried to put the fire out. He got a garden hose, and as he was trying to get the fire out, the suspect (Lester) turned the water off outside."
Dorsel also tried to find the dog, but couldn't, Lee said.
A neighbor had noticed smoke coming out of the house and called the Muskogee Fire Department. Police were called at 12:45 a.m.
A firefighter found the dog hiding under a bed and said it was alive and well, Lee said.
When Lester tried to return to the home, she was arrested.
The Department of Human Services was called, and the children were placed with relatives, Lee said.
"The fire was pretty much contained to a bedroom in the back," said Assistant Fire Marshal James Ledbetter.
"It's a mess," he said. "Estimated damages are $5,000, and that's pretty much a subjective figure. He pretty much had the fire out when she turned off the water. He had to go turn it on again. Luckily, no one was hurt." References |
