New video shows suspected arsonist setting Dayton duplex on fire

DAYTON — A 42-year-old man is in jail after being accused of lighting a Dayton duplex on fire twice in a matter of hours.

Firefighters were dispatched twice within a few hours Saturday to the 200 block of Xenia Avenue. The abandoned duplex was property boarded, but one “determined” person, caught on camera, damaged it badly.

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The video News Center 7 obtained Monday shows a man in front of the Dayton duplex Saturday afternoon. He is seen working to light the contents of a white trash bag on fire, then once he thinks it is burning, he throws it through a 3-foot gap between the protective plywood and the top window frame.

911 callers alerted the fire department, but they apparently spotted him only after he dragged a second trash bag over to the same window, lighted it, and threw it in.

“It’s on fire now, so the guy that’s burning the house is in front of the house,” a 911 caller said.

The video would show Dayton police and fire rolling up to the building a short time later. They stayed about 90 minutes, putting out the flames. 30 minutes later after they left, that same man was back and so were the flames.

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“That’s the guy that started the fire across the street at like 3:00 today,” another 911 caller told dispatchers.

Investigators told News Center 7 that a number of people living in the area or walking through pointed out the man suspected of starting the fires as he was still on the street.

While police have not identified the man they arrested, Kevin Carter Jr. was arrested and booked on suspicion of arson and aggravated menacing. His age and arrest location matched that of a Dayton police incident report.

We’ll update this if any charges are filed in this case.

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