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Kan. man arrested after homeless woman’s blankets set on fire

PITTSBURG, Kan. (AP) — Pittsburg police say a man is being held on $100,000 after he allegedly tried to start a homeless woman’s blankets on fire while she slept.

Dickerson -photo Crawford Co.

Police say in a news release that the woman, Chrystal Thompson, originally thought a hand warming device accidentally set her blankets on fire Thursday night while she slept in the alcove of a business.

The business owner told police Friday that surveillance video showed a man intentionally setting Thompson’s blankets of fire and walking away.

The blankets burned briefly before the fire went out.

The suspect, 60-year-old Richard Lee Dickerson, of Pittsburg, was arrested Saturday. He is facing potential charges of attempted murder, aggravated arson and criminal damage to property.

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