By Associated Press - Monday, February 4, 2019

PITTSBURG, Kan. (AP) - Pittsburg police say a man is being held on $100,000 after he allegedly tried to start a homeless woman’s blankets on fire while she slept.

Police say in a news release that the woman, Chrystal Thompson, originally thought a hand warming device accidentally set her blankets on fire Thursday night while she slept in the alcove of a business.

The Pittsburg Morning Sun reports the business owner told police Friday that surveillance video showed a man intentionally setting Thompson’s blankets of fire and walking away.



The blankets burned briefly before the fire went out.

The suspect, 60-year-old Richard Lee Dickerson, of Pittsburg, was arrested Saturday. He is facing potential charges of attempted murder, aggravated arson and criminal damage to property.

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Information from: The (Pittsburg, Kan.) Morning Sun, http://www.morningsun.net

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