An Elizabethton man faces an attempted arson charge after he reportedly set fire to items inside a home owned by his father.
Officers of the Elizabethton Police Department arrested Carl Raymond Perry, 35, of 417 Washington Ave., Elizabethton, on Monday and charged him with attempted arson and vandalism.
Perry appeared in Carter County General Sessions Court on Tuesday for arraignment on the charges against him. Judge Keith Bowers Jr. appointed the Public Defender’s Office to represent Perry and scheduled the man to return to court on April 4. Bowers also ordered a mental health evaluation be completed on Perry.
According to court documents, the charges against Perry stem from an incident on Monday afternoon after 911 dispatchers received a call about a disorderly man armed with an ax attempting to set a residence on fire.
When officers of the Elizabethton Police Department arrived on the scene, they met with the Rob Remme, who was the person that called 911. Remme told officers he was a friend of the homeowner, identified as Paul Perry, and Paul Perry had asked him to check on his residence and his son Carl Perry while Paul Perry was receiving treatment at a local hospital.
“Mr. Remme then stated that when he arrived at the residence, he found that Mr. Carl Perry had set several fires through the residence and had chopped through Mr. Paul Perry’s bedroom door,” EPD Sgt. Curtis Bullock said.
Carl Perry was sitting on the front porch steps of the home when Bullock arrived, and after speaking with Remme, the officer then talked with Carl Perry and asked him about what had happened.
“Carl then stated that he was burning old pictures on the stove because old pictures were ‘toxic’ and they must be burned on a stove and not with a lighter,” Bullock said. “I then asked Carl if he had used an ax to vandalize the residence. Carl then stated that he did not have an ax, but had used a ‘screwdriver’ to open his father’s bedroom door.”
Bullock said he then went inside the house to check for damage and saw the home was full of smoke.
“I then noticed piles of ash on the eyes of the stove and an oil lamp on the kitchen table that appeared that it had been used to set fire to an area of the kitchen table,” Bullock said. “I then inspected Mr. Paul Perry’s bedroom door and observed that the door had several large holes and it appeared that the door had been chopped through. Several other rooms in the residence were also in disarray, and at least one smoke detector had been tampered with inside of the residence and had been disabled.”
Bullock arrested Carl Perry and transported him to the Carter County Detention Center where he remains held under a $5,000 bond.