A 56-year-old man is in custody for allegedly starting a structure fire in Manitowoc earlier this week.
Police say that Charles A. Cantrell the Third is being held at the County Jail on charges of Criminal Trespass to a Dwelling and Negligent Handling of Burning Materials.
Lt. Robert Arps of the Manitowoc Police Department says detectives were conducting surveillance at businesses in the 3300 block of Calumet Avenue earlier this morning when one of the Detectives observed a male subject that was a person of interest in a possible case of arson at a residence in the 3300 block of Mero Street early Monday morning.
Contact was made with Cantrell based on recent tips they received where he told them he accidentally started the fire in an effort to stay warm as he is homeless.
The fire is believed to have started inside a detached building of a vacant residence spreading to the vacant residence and to other occupied dwellings causing what was termed as significant damage.
No dollar damage estimate is available yet and no one was injured. MPD was assisted by the Manitowoc Fire Department during the course of their investigation.
