Posted on 11/13/2007 4:29:30 PM PST by Shermy
CHARLOTTE COUNTY: A Port Charlotte man tried to burn himself to death after a domestic dispute over the sale of a camera. He was eventually saved by two deputies who pulled him from a burning bedroom.
It happened Monday at an apartment complex at 700 Dalton Boulevard in Port Charlotte.
Deputies were called the home because there was a man and a woman in a physical altercation in the front yard.
When authorities arrived they saw Gregory Kolasa, 39, holding a woman on the ground. As soon as Kolasa saw deputies show up he ran inside an apartment and locked himself in a bedroom.
The woman said she and Kolasa were fighting over a camera she sold. According to her he then got a gas can and doused the bedroom with fuel.
Deputies could smell the gasoline inside the apartment so they evacuated the building and called for back-up.
Fire and EMS crews showed up and waited nearby.
Authorities say at one point Kolasa yelled from inside, ""Come on in here, I got something for you, this place will go up like an inferno."
Deputies tried numerous times to get him to come out, but he threatened again to burn himself and the apartment if deputies entered. Kolasa remained quiet a few minutes and then deputies saw flames coming from the bedroom.
Two deputies then broke into the smoke filled apartment. They used a fire extinguisher to put out the blaze and got Kolasa safely out of the room.
He wasn't hurt, but he continued to resist deputies and had to be shot twice with a stun gun before he was finally handcuffed.
Kolasa is charged with arson to an occupied building. He is being held at the Charlotte County Jail.
Looking at recent stories, it seems the amount of weirdness in Florida has returned to past high levels.
The only thing to do there was go to Texas Rangers Spring training games.
But they moved their camp to Arizona about five years ago.
That left...watching the water levels in the canals.
Clearly, Kolasa misses the Rangers.
Where are the alligators when they are needed?
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