According to an affidavit filed in the case, Springfield Police Division officers were dispatched to the 800 block of North Florence Street on Nov. 26 on a report of possible arson. When officers arrived at the scene they found the Springfield Fire Department setting up to put out a car fire.
After the fire was put out, officers interviewed a woman and her mother who called police and who lived in the home where the car was parked . One of the women said she looked out her window and saw the suspect, “jumping over the back gate wearing a gray hoodie and dark-colored pants.”
“(Victim) then went toward the front to check on her mother when she heard her mom yelling to call 911 because Mr. Martin set (the car) on fire and was yelling to let it burn,” the affidavit said.
An arson investigator was called to the scene and determined the fire, “did appear to be an arson due to the vehicle having no battery in it, the doors were unlocked and the front passenger door being left slightly opened,” the affidavit said.
Officers then went to the home where Martin was staying to interview him about the incident, the affidavit said.
“(Officer) began to question Martin, asking him where he was at and if he was over at (victim’s) on N. Florence. Martin stated that he had been asleep on the couch for hours and did not know anything about the incident,” the affidavit said.
Martin’s next court date has not yet been scheduled.
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