Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, November 24, 1995 TAG: 9511270034
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: B-5 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: BETTY HAYDEN
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
Firefighters responded to 605 Highland Ave. S.W. shortly after 3:30 p.m. Wednesday and found a first-floor apartment on fire, according to a police news release issued Thursday night.
The fire marshal determined that the fire apparently was set in a trash can found near a living-room window. The unit's smoke detector had been disassembled.
A neighbor who discovered the fire gave police this account:
The neighbor returned home Wednesday afternoon to find a man standing outside the residence.
The man said he had just put out a small fire caused by a cigarette. The neighbor decided to see for himself, so he walked around the house and noticed smoke coming from the walls.
He turned and saw the man running toward a car parked behind the house. When the car wouldn't start, the man ran.
The neighbor fought the fire until help arrived. No property damage estimate was available.
A couple of hours later, the resident of the apartment was arrested on an unrelated charge.
About 5:45, Thomas Fallon was walking to his car in the 900 block of Wiley Drive Southwest when he spotted a man getting out of it. The man was wearing Fallon's windbreaker and carrying Fallon's bookbag.
Fallon held the man while another resident called police.
Police arrested David Brian Barbour, 26, of 605 Highland Ave. and charged him with grand larceny. Detectives, who were looking for Barbour, also charged him with arson for the Highland fire.
Barbour remained in the Roanoke City Jail on Thursday night.
by CNB