A 31-year-old man was arrested on suspicion of firing an airsoft pistol and starting a fire inside a house in Poway Friday, sheriff’s officials said.

He had eluded deputies about five hours prior to his arrest and tried unsuccessfully to escape once he was in custody, Sgt. Bo Roberson said.

Deputies went the home on Powers Road about 10 a.m. to investigate a family disturbance, but the man was not there when they arrived. He made comments that he wanted to kill himself before leaving, Roberson said.

The man’s mother called deputies about 3:30 p.m. and said her son had returned home and possibly was armed with a gun. The woman got out of the house safely.


Deputies surrounded the home and used a loudspeaker to instruct the man to come outside, but he did not comply.

While the man was holed up, deputies heard five to six shots fired inside the house, Roberson said. Next they saw smoke and flames coming from the back of the home.

Not long after, about 4:15 p.m., the man exited a back door and was arrested without a struggle. He had not suffered any injuries.

Poway and San Diego firefighters put out the blaze in roughly 10 minutes. At some point, firefighters rescued a small dog from the home. Roberson said bomb-arson investigators were trying to determine how the fire started.


A search inside the home turned up an airsoft pistol, the sergeant said.

The man was taken to the sheriff’s Poway station, where he tried and failed to escape. He was booked into jail on suspicion of arson, vandalism, assault on a peace officer and other charges.


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UPDATES:

8:45 p.m.: This article was updated with additional details. This article was originally published at 4:35 p.m.