A 44-year-old man was arrested Monday after authorities say he told homeless campers to move from a Southeast Portland lot or risk their possessions being set on fire, later returned and set one man’s items ablaze.

Roy A. Elworthy remains held Thursday in the Multnomah County Inverness Jail on suspicion of reckless burning. He is accused of walking into a homeless camp near Southeast 136th Avenue and Powell Boulevard on Aug. 15 and igniting a wooden storage box outside of one man’s tent.

Flames destroyed the man’s belongings in the box and his tent, according to Portland Fire & Rescue. The man camping there wasn’t injured.

Two other campers saw Elworthy light the items on fire and it was caught on surveillance video, according to a probable cause affidavit.

Witnesses told authorities that sometime before the incident, a man told the people camping there that he’d light their possessions on fire if they didn’t leave, Portland Fire & Rescue said.

Elworthy “expressed his frustration about the police not enforcing laws against homeless people,” after he was arrested, according to the affidavit.

Court records list Elworthy’s home address as five miles from the campsite. There is no indication from court records that Elworthy and the man he is accused of targeting knew each other.

-- Everton Bailey Jr.

ebailey@oregonian.com | 503-221-8343 | @EvertonBailey

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