SPRINGFIELD, Mo. (AP) - A Springfield man who has been accused of a spree of fires in cars and trash containers near a low-income housing complex told police he can’t stop himself from setting the blazes, at times just to watch the flames, according to court documents.
Prosecutors in southwestern Missouri’s Greene County charged 56-year-old Ned Zitting on Friday with six felony counts of knowingly burning related to the blazes at or near the Franciscan Villa apartment complex, where he lived. He was jailed Saturday on $75,000 bond.
The Springfield Fire Department said in a statement Saturday that the suspicious fires date to the fall of 2015.
According to a probable-cause statement filed along with the criminal complaint, Zitting told police he has started eight car fires and has lit the same trash container ablaze as many times, the Springfield News-Leader (https://sgfnow.co/2l4OypI ) reported. Zitting allegedly told police he often went back to his apartment to watch the flames.
According to the statement, Zitting said he would fill a cardboard box with paper or toilet paper and put it inside a car, then light the fire. Police said Zitting acknowledged that if the car was locked, he might fill a plastic bag with Styrofoam or toilet paper and use that to set the front tires on fire.
Online court records don’t show whether Zitting has an attorney to speak on his behalf.
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