PHOENIX — The Phoenix Police Department said a man in a mental health crisis set fire to his apartment before jumping out the second-story window Friday morning.
The incident happened near 70th Avenue and Indian School Road just before 6:30 a.m.
Phoenix police said that when the man called 911 the first time, he was put through to a crisis line. But when 911 calls kept coming from the apartment, they decided to send two officers.
A Phoenix police spokesperson said that when officers arrived saw the apartment on fire.
"When the police got here, we walked over there and we saw smoke," Mattie Rickman, who said she was the man's girlfriend, said. "I'm like, 'oh, he set it on fire.'”
After that, police said the man jumped from the second-floor window, then began fighting with them on the ground. Police said they used tasers and a bean gun to subdue him.
“He’s been dealing with mental health for a while now," Rickman said. "So when he feels like he's going to have a breakdown, he knows to call the crisis team. He called them and they failed him.”
But Phoenix police said this was more than a mental health crisis call as soon as the fire started, potentially endangering other families in the complex.
The man was taken to the hospital for his injuries and evaluation. Police said he has not been charged with any crime yet.
Firefighters got the fire under control before it could spread to any other apartments.
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