Suspect held in arson fire that left woman, 87, dead in Northwest Indiana
PORTAGE, Ind. (CBS) -- A suspect was in custody Tuesday night in an arson fire that left an 87-year-old woman dead in Portage, Indiana, police said.
At 12:10 a.m. Tuesday, a ground-floor unit was on fire in a building in the Swanson Court Apartments development on Willowdale Court in Portage. The police and fire departments were called to the scene, and officers helped evacuate the building that was on fire—as well as the one next door.
Firefighters put out the fire, and rescued a resident who was trapped on a second-floor balcony, the fire department said.
Once the fire was out, a woman was found in the ground-floor unit where the blaze is believed to have started, police said. She was rushed to a nearby hospital, but it was too late, and she died of injuries that it is believed she suffered in the fire, police said.
The 87-year-old woman who was killed in the fire was identified as Maria Leal.
The victim's daughter, who also lives in the apartment, told police that her boyfriend had threatened to burn up the apartment earlier in the evening during a quarrel elsewhere, police said. A Crown Point Fire Department K-9 found that there was indeed an accelerant at the scene, police said.
Portage police officers pulled over the suspect around 1:30 a.m. after finding out his name and a description of his car. He was taken to the Portage Park police station where detectives found him while his car was impounded and a search warrant was executed on it, police said.
The suspect was later taken to the Porter County Jail, where he is being held on unrelated charges. He had not yet been charged in the deadly fire Tuesday night.
