Man hits hydrant, then sets car on fire

Minutes after hitting a fire hydrant, a Bermuda Drive man torched a neighbor?s car after the man refused to help him move his wrecked vehicle off the hydrant.

The defendant, Christopher M. Ward, is charged with illegal burning of property and will face preliminary hearing before General Sessions Judge Larry Ross on Feb. 6.

According to Sheriff?s Investigator Capt. Tommy Myers, the chain of events which led to the arson began when an allegedly drunken Ward slammed his vehicle into a fire plug on Bermuda Drive located near Newtown. Moments later the man who lived nearby refused to help him remove his vehicle before lawmen arrived, prompting a fight between the men, a fight Myers said Ward got the short end of, taking away a black eye.

Ward reportedly ran away following the fight, disappearing into a nearby wooded area. Lawmen then arrived and had Ward?s car towed since he was nowhere to be found.

However, a few minutes later another neighbor reported seeing a man, dressed exactly the same as Ward had been dressed, except with the addition of covering on his face, run over to the man?s vehicle with whom he had just had the fight, toss in a flaming rag and run away into Ward?s house.

The owner of the vehicle was able to subdue the fire quickly upon being alerted by his neighbor, but not before it significantly damaged one of his seats.

Ward was arrested a short time later. He reportedly confessed to the crime during questioning, saying he did it because he was mad over the fight.