Daniel McWhinney Charged With Felony Arson After Setting Apartment On Fire

LAKEWOOD, Colo (CBS4) -- The first officer on scene saw an orange glow coming from the front window. When he looked in, he saw a man standing in front of a fire in the corner of the apartment's main room.

The man was adding objects to the fire and it was rapidly growing.

That man, Daniel McWhinney, 48, now sits in the Jefferson County Detention Facility facing felony charges for arson and criminal mischief.

People calling into 9-1-1 at 12:30 a.m. told dispatchers a man inside the apartment at 1415 Harlan Street "was throwing things, talking about getting shot, and saying he was going to kill people," according to case documents obtained by CBS4.

Lakewood Police Department Agent Joshua Guerra was the first of the first responders to get there. In the arrest affidavit, Guerra described evacuating McWhinney and the other people in the rear of the apartment as fire crews were dispatched. After handcuffing McWhinney, Guerra ran to his patrol car to retrieve a fire extinguisher, only to find "the flames had completely engulfed the apartment and had begun to spread to neighboring units" and a nearby tree by the time he returned.

Crews from West Metro Fire eventually put out the blaze, but declared the apartment a total loss and an adjacent one also affected. Damage was preliminarily estimated at $99,000.

An arson dog was brought to the scene.

McWhinney swore at Lakewood officers while being searched and struck his head repeatedly against the patrol car's window. A glass pipe with white residue was found in his pocket, according to the report.

McWhinney was taken to Lutheran Medical Center for precautionary evaluation before he was jailed.

Misdemeanor charges for assault, reckless endangerment and drug paraphernalia accompany the felonies.

There were no injuries as a result of the incident, but five people were forced to seek other living arrangements due to the fire.