PHOENIX — An 18-year-old has been arrested, accused of setting fire to two of his neighbors' homes in May.
Osman Perez Vazquez was arrested on June 29, the same day Phoenix police say he set a bush on fire near his mother's house.
When Vazquez was questioned, police say he admitted to setting two fires weeks earlier in his neighborhood.
First, on Memorial Day, Vazquez told police he lit a rag on fire and then put the rag on a couch inside a vacant home next door. Police say Vazquez told them he knew the home had been vacant for about three years but said the homeowner follows him around and tries to take his things.
According to court documents, after he set the house on fire, Vazquez told police he walked outside to smoke methamphetamines and fentanyl.
Police say another fire broke out at the home next door to the vacant house on May 31st. Vazquez told police he set that fire as well and said he thought a girl lived there with her parents. He allegedly went into their backyard and used a butane torch and a rag to set a couch there on fire.
Court documents say Vazquez told police the girl had accused him of a crime, but he said that isn’t why he set her house on fire. He allegedly told police he thought the girl and her mother were following him and taking things from his backpack. He was worried they were tracking his cell phone location and planning to take his drugs.
Police say Vazquez went on to tell them he hadn’t started any other fires but had really wanted to light his mom’s house on fire, but had not been able to yet.
