Man allegedly set fire to basement suite during standoff with Regina police

A 35-year-old Regina man is facing criminal charges after he allegedly set fire to a home during a lengthy standoff with police.

According to the Regina Police Service, officers visited a home in the 1500 block of Montague Street on Monday afternoon to arrest a man who was wanted on a warrant. The officers confirmed the man was in a basement suite, but he allegedly refused to let the officers inside and barricaded the door while threatening to set fire to the home.

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While police were negotiating with the man – with firefighters and paramedics standing by and the street closed to traffic – the man allegedly used gasoline to set fires at the entry points to the suite. Those fires were “immediately” extinguished by firefighters, the police service said.

The man ultimately left the suite and was arrested shortly before 11 p.m., more than six hours after the standoff began.

In addition to the existing warrant, the 35-year-old man was charged with arson with disregard for human life, possession of incendiary material and mischief under $5,000.

He was scheduled to appear in court on Tuesday afternoon.