PANAMA CITY — A local woman has been arrested and charged after her apartment was set ablaze while her boyfriend slept within, according to Panama City Police Department reports.
Vanessa Diane Arnold, 56, was arrested on arson charges Tuesday morning after police arrived at the Shady Haven Motel, 1342 Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd., to see smoke plumes rising from the building. Fire crews extinguished the fire in Apartment 10 moments later as officers detained Arnold for questioning, PCPD reported.
According to police, Arnold was staying in the room with her boyfriend, 56-year-old Terry Sly, the night of the incident. The two had an off-again, on-again relationship, Sly told officers, and had been arguing earlier in the night about Arnold losing her job, police reported.
Attempts to contact Arnold and Sly were unsuccessful Wednesday.
However, he told PCPD the argument went on for a few minutes and he went to sleep afterward on the bed. He was awakened a short time later by Arnold hitting him and yelling at him to look at what she did, police reported. The couch and curtains were on fire with both of them inside the room, according to police.
An adjacent neighbor helped remove burning items from the room as fire crews were en route. The fire was extinguished a short time later. Police did not report any injuries to Arnold or Sly.
Arnold was arrested and charged with arson of an occupied dwelling and misdemeanor domestic violence battery, according to police. She also was charged with arson resulting in an injury to another because the neighbor sustained burns to his foot while helping to remove the inflamed items, police reported.