Alaska man lit mother’s home on fire in Northern California, then died, deputies say
An Alaska man visiting family members in Northern California vandalized their home, set it on fire and injured himself while inside the burning home, dying a short time later after being detained by deputies, authorities said.
The incident began early Thursday morning in the town of Brownsville, the Yuba County Sheriff’s Office said in a news release.
Deputies responded around 2:40 a.m. to a 911 call from La Porte Road, where a caller reported that her adult son “had assaulted her and was destroying her house,” the news release said.
Arriving officers determined the man, described by the Sheriff’s Office as a 39-year-old from Alaska, was “bleeding from what appeared to be self-inflicted wounds.”
As he remained inside the home and as law enforcement attempted negotiations, a fire sparked inside the home and quickly spread, according to the Sheriff’s Office.
The man eventually left the home and was combative with deputies, who detained him on the porch of the “fully engulfed residence,” authorities wrote.
The man then became unresponsive as deputies led him away from the fiery home, according to the Sheriff’s Office. Paramedics at the scene began CPR, then transported him to a hospital, where he was pronounced dead around 6 a.m.
The coroner is investigating to determine the man’s cause of death. His identity will be released pending additional notification of family outside of Yuba County, the Sheriff’s Office said.
An investigation into the fire and the man’s death remains active and ongoing, the Sheriff’s Office said.
