A North Carolina man is accused of setting his own house on fire, then stealing a Jacksonville Fire Department command vehicle as crews battled the blaze.
JACKSONVILLE, N.C. — A Saturday afternoon fire call turned into straight-up chaos after investigators say an Onslow County man not only set his own house on fire — but then dipped off with a whole fire department vehicle like it was GTA.
According to warrants and local reports, firefighters rushed to a structure fire around 3:00 p.m. at 413 Nelson Drive in Jacksonville. The home belongs to 31-year-old Anthony Biz, who authorities say had one goal in mind: burn the place down on purpose.
While the JFD was on scene battling the flames, officials say one of their battalion command vehicles belonging to the City of Jacksonville suddenly went missing. Somebody stole the vehicle.
Investigators later tracked the truck down in Pender County on NC Highway 50. Biz was quickly arrested and taken to the Onslow County Jail.
Authorities are hitting Biz with a loaded list of felonies:
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Fraudulent burning of a dwelling — intentionally torching his own home.
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Larceny of a motor vehicle — swiping the fire department’s battalion command truck.
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Possession of a stolen motor vehicle — being found with the stolen emergency vehicle.
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Unauthorized burning — an additional fire-related charge.
Jacksonville officials have yet to release further details on the motive behind the fire or the vehicle theft.
Biz appeared in court Monday morning and was given a $90,000 bond.
