TOLEDO, Ohio — One suspect is in custody after allegedly setting a person's hair on fire with a blow torch at a Point Place gas station Monday afternoon.
According to a Toledo police report and court documents, officers responded to a Ridis gas station in the 4800 block of North Summit Street around noon regarding a weapons call. Police were told the suspect, later identified as Arthur Richter, 46, was inside the store trying to set people on fire with a blowtorch.
WTOL obtained the surveillance video on Friday afternoon.
Once at the scene, police took Richter into custody without incident, they said.
During the investigation, police located the torch and said the store smelled like smoke. Two witnesses told police they had initially seen Richter when he approached their vehicle at the intersection of 116th and Summit streets. Richter allegedly ignited his blowtorch and aimed it at the driver's window. After exchanging words, the witnesses drove to the gas station to escape the suspect.
Richter confronted one of the witnesses again at Ridis, where he set the man's hair on fire. In the video, the man can be seen frantically running away while pulling his sweatshirt over his head. The man was able to put the fire out.
Richter then allegedly set packaged firewood outside of the store on fire after leaving the store and confronting the two men again. A store employee can be seen on the video extinguishing the fire with a cup of water.
Police charged Richter with aggravated arson of an occupied structure, a second-degree felony, and aggravated arson with creating a risk of physical harm to a person, a first-degree felony. In addition, he was charged with a misdemeanor menacing count.
On Tuesday, he was indicted on two charges of aggravated arson and one charge of felonious assault.
In November, Richter was the subject of an 11 Investigates report. He was convicted of complicity in the commission of murder in 2018 after his uncle died in a bar fight. The Sixth District Court of Appeals overturned that conviction, saying that the most that Richter could have been charged with was disorderly conduct.
Richter is currently suing the state for wrongful imprisonment. He was asking the court to declare that he was wrongfully imprisoned. Last Friday, a judge denied him summary judgment, effectively ending his case. It is not yet known if he will appeal to an appellate court.
Editor's note: This story has been updated to reflect new information made available.
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