Man armed with flamethrower and his canine accomplice set house on fire and escape on golf cart

A man wielding a makeshift flamethrower and his canine companion were caught on camera lighting a Washington garage on fire this week while the homeowner was still inside.

Footage shows the 47-year-old suspect roll up to the victim’s Port Orchard house on Aug. 4 in a golf cart with a small dog riding shotgun.

The fire starter allegedly used a weed burner attached to a propane tank on the back of his golf cart to ignite the garage frame before adding a liquid that appeared to accelerate the blaze further, according to the Kitsap Sun.

The dog was seen surveying the fire and looking around nervously as the blaze spread.

A witness saw the man light the fire and claimed the suspect told him he was with the fire department.

The witness also claimed the man tried to run him over with the cart and waved his torch at him.

Washington firefighters eventually extinguished the blaze, but not before it engulfed the homeowner’s car, valued at $25,000, and caused an estimated $150,000 to $175,000 in damage to the home. The resident inside at the time was not hurt.

The homeowner did not know the man and did not know why he would have started the fire, the Kitsap Sun reported.

State police tracked down and arrested the man, who was reportedly under the influence of alcohol and marijuana. He expressed a different account to police about what he was doing.

The suspect said he was breaking and burning things around his own home on Hinkley Road before taking his dog to watch the sunrise in his golf cart when a stranger attacked him, the Kitsap Sun reported.

He was booked into the Kitsap County Jail on suspicion of first-degree arson and second-degree assault.

The man was scheduled to appear in Kitsap County Superior Court on Friday.

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