EL MIRAGE, AZ — An El Mirage man was arrested in Scottsdale Thursday after a string of threats was followed by arson late last month.
Police say they were first called to an El Mirage home on March 14 after Jajuann Ernest Robert Jones, 30, allegedly went to his estranged wife’s home and threatened her with a handgun in front of their young children.
Two weeks later, officers were called back to the home to investigate threats and harassing phone calls.
According to police documents, he told the victim he would “show up at (her) house to shoot her and blow up her house.” He also allegedly threatened to take the children.
Before 3 a.m. on March 29, emergency crews responded to the victim’s home after the front door and garage door caught fire. A neighbor was able to extinguish the blaze and there was a strong smell of gasoline, leading investigators to believe it was set on fire intentionally.
Home surveillance video captured Jones pouring a flammable substance on the front of the home before lighting it on fire, documents say.
Jones reportedly spoke with law enforcement on the phone and said he was not involved in the fire. He reportedly refused to meet with officers and said, “they would have to catch him.”
On March 31, officers arrested Jones outside of a hotel in Scottsdale.
Jones was booked into jail on more than two dozen charges including attempted murder, aggravated assault, arson, and endangerment.
