On Friday August 29th at 9:28am, APD officers and Amarillo Fire Department personnel were sent to the 500 block of S Forrest on a structure fire. Upon arrival they discovered the residence at 503 S Forrest was fully engulfed by the fire. As fire officials began combating the fire, APD officers began crowd control and looking for any possible witnesses. Officers were contacted by two witnesses that stated that they had just given a ride to a male subject from this address. They stated the H/M came running out the back yard and jumped in the back seat of their car and asked for a ride. He reportedly made a statement to them that he had just lit that house on fire. The witnesses drove straight to the fire station located in the 100 block of S Western with the suspect in the backseat. The suspect hopped out of the vehicle and ran south from the fire station. The witnesses returned back to the scene of the fire and reported to officers what had happened and gave a description of the suspect. After a radio broadcast was put out, APD officers located an H/M matching the description in the 400 block of S Western. The male was taken into custody and returned to the scene where he was positively identified as the suspect. The suspect is ID as Pablo Sanchez H/M 44; he was transported and booked into the Potter County Correction Center on a charge of Arson of Building/Habitation or Vehicle, a state jail felony. The incident remains under investigation by the Amarillo Fire Marshal’s Office.
