A Quincy man has been charged with arson after intentionally starting a fire inside a residence in which he was staying.
Around 10:44 p.m., July 10, Quincy Police were dispatched to the 100 block of Marty Street in reference to a possible arson. Upon arrival, the responding officer could see smoke coming from the residence but no flames, a Quincy Police report states.
Outside the home, the officer observed a “smoldering gas can and a smoldering couch,” and inside, gasoline was poured on the floor, the report continues. Aldric Akins, 34, admitted to setting the blaze and was charged with arson.
Akins told Quincy police he was sleeping on the couch in the living room, when his mother Mary Holmes and niece Baleshia Rollins woke him up. Akins said he went outside to smoke a cigarette and heard his mother and niece talking about him. Akins then grabbed a gas can from outside and poured gasoline on a living room chair and in the hallway, lit the fuel and walked out the house’s backdoor, he told officers.
Once outside, Akins stated he smoked another cigarette until law enforcement arrived.
Rollins – one of the home’s occupants at the time of the alleged arson – told police that at one point Akins said “I will burn this (expletive) house down. If I can’t live in this house can’t no one live here.”
As of press time Tuesday, Akins was being held in the Gadsden County Jail, with bond set at $25,000.
By Brian Dekle
editor@prioritynews.net