A lover's spat was at the center of a fire that forced several residents from a Newark high-rise building and caused Newark Police officials to launch an investigation into an arson on Wednesday morning.
Police in Newark took a man into custody after he arrived at his girlfriend's apartment and torched her clothing while she watched in horror.
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It happened on the 18th floor of the Pavilion Towers just before 11 a.m.
Police arrived and found smoke billowing into the hallway from an apartment with a man and a woman inside. According to police, the pair and several residents were immediately evacuated from the building.
Police say the woman reported to them that the suspect entered the apartment without saying anything, grabbed a bundle of her clothing, threw them on the floor, used an accelerant, then struck a match.
Firefighters raced up to the apartment and swiftly extinguished the fire that spread to a portion of the apartment then checked the home for possible trapped and injured occupants.
Police say the woman was transported to University Hospital for smoke inhalation but is expected to make a full recovery. The suspect was also taken to St. Barnabas Hospital for non-life-threatening injuries.
According to police, no one else inside the building suffered injuries.