A CT woman barricaded herself in an apartment. Then she allegedly set the building on fire.
A woman faces arson and reckless endangerment charges after allegedly barricading herself inside a Hartford apartment before intentionally lighting the building on fire — which displaced the residents of two units, records show.
Elizabeth Cummings, 54, was arrested at gunpoint when she emerged from the burning apartment on Main Street where she had only minutes earlier exited briefly while allegedly wielding a knife, according to the incident report filed by Hartford police.
Cummings was arrested on charges of first-degree arson of an occupied building, interfering with an officer, first-degree criminal mischief, first-degree reckless endangerment and second-degree breach of peace, records show. She has been held in lieu of $500,000 bail and is set to face a judge at Superior Court in Hartford on Monday.
According to the incident report, the chaotic series of events began unfolding at about 4:42 p.m. July 17 when police were called to a Main Street apartment building on the report of a domestic violence incident. Police later learned Cummings stays at an apartment in the building from time to time, though she reported residing in Meriden.
Police officers knocked on the door of the apartment where Cummings was inside and she yelled “Keep on knocking, (expletive),” the report said.
A few minutes later, police wrote, Cummings emerged from the apartment with a 7-inch kitchen knife, screaming “Get the (expletive) away from me,” and flailing the blade around.
She then allegedly retreated back into the apartment with the knife, screaming profanities, and barricaded herself inside, police wrote in the incident report.
More officers responded to the scene at this point and set up a perimeter around the building. For the next 20 minutes, according to police, Cummings yelled profanities and allegedly screamed multiple times “I’m going to burn this place down.”
Police began evacuating residents of the building before noticing flames within the unit where Cummings was barricaded, the report said. A resident of the unit next door was still inside her apartment at the time, police noted.
Police inside the building then noticed smoke coming from the apartment with Cummings inside, at which point she opened the door and thick, black smoke started billowing out and into the hallway, according to the report.
Cummings then allegedly advanced toward an officer while holding something in both hands, though police said the smoky conditions made it difficult to see what she had. Two officers told Cummings at gunpoint to stop moving and drop whatever she was holding, the report said.
One of the officers was then able to see Cummings no longer had a knife, so he holstered his gun and took her down to the floor before handcuffing her and getting her out of the building safely, the report said. She was then taken into custody, police said.
No injuries were reported as a result of the fire.
The fire was put out by the building’s sprinkler system and Hartford firefighters.
Police noted in the report that it was difficult to determine the cost of the water and fire damages to the building. The residents of two units were displaced as a result of the incident.