Columbiana arson suspect accused of beating woman with baseball bat, strangling her with rope

The suspect in an arson incident in Columbiana, stemming from a domestic violence report has been identified.

According to a police report from the Columbiana Police Department, the incident happened just before midnight on June 2 at a mobile home park just off of Columbiana-Lisbon Road in Columbiana.

Officers responded to address of the suspect for a report of domestic violence and found the victim seeking shelter with neighbors, according to the report.

According to the report, the victim was bleeding from multiple wounds on her head, as well as her left elbow. Police say the victim told the suspect she wanted a divorce and that she had already withdrawn half the money out of the account. Police say the suspect threatened to harm himself by taking pills.

From there, the victim told police that she was laying in bed with the lights off when the suspect started hitting her with a baseball bat, as well as punching her and strangling her with a rope.

Blood was seen on and around the victim's bed and a bloody rope was found in the bedroom closet according to the report.

Police say while the suspect was doing this, he had verbally threatened to kill the victim and burn the mobile home down with her inside.

The report states that the suspect set fire to the home and fled causing him to suffer significant burns on his feet, hands and face. A search of the home also revealed the nozzle of a gas can on the kitchen floor and the can itself in the bedroom closet. 

Police say outside the home, a gas meter was leaking gas from what appeared to be sabotage. 

A K9 handler and other officers tracked the suspect, who had fled into thick brush. Police say the suspect had multiple burn wounds and was covered in blood, suet and mud and that there was a lot of blood in the water under a bridge indicating that the suspect had been hiding for a long time.

According to the report, the suspect's burn wounds were so severe, the skin was completely peeled from most of the bottom of his feet. He was flown to a burn unit for those injuries.

21 News is not identifying the suspect at this time, as no charges appear to have been filed against him yet.

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