Kennewick man set fire to neighbor’s home with 3 kids and parents inside, say police

A Kennewick man has pleaded innocent to allegations he set fire to a neighbor’s front door while a couple was inside with their three kids.

Jose Antonio Contreras, 33, has a Dec. 11 trial date for first-degree arson in Benton County Superior Court.

Prosecutors allege that the fire was “manifestly dangerous to human life” and caused damage to the home at Woodland Green Apartments.

Neighbor Regan Carney and her husband were woken up just after 3 a.m. Saturday by pounding on their front door.

They looked through the peephole and saw the man who lives in an upstairs apartment across from them yanking the light fixture off the wall next to their door, Carney told the Herald.

She said they rarely interacted with their neighbor and didn’t understand his erratic behavior.

“He was yelling, but it was hard to tell what he was saying,” Carney said. Her husband shouted through the door for Contreras to go home, but it didn’t stop him.

Carney called 911 at 3:32 a.m., and police quickly responded to the complex at 130 S. Conway Place.

One officer found Contreras on the landing and saw flames at the front door of an apartment. Contreras appeared to be starting the fire, court documents said.

Another officer reported that the fire was 2 to 3 feet high and scorching the door, documents said. Officers doused the flames.

Carney later said they didn’t know what was happening outside.

Contreras allegedly retreated into his apartment, grabbed a knife and threatened the officers.

Once the Tri-City Regional SWAT Team arrived, the building was evacuated. Carney and her husband climbed out a bedroom window with their children — ages 6, 4 and 9 months — onto the top of the SWAT vehicle, then lowered to the ground.

Police tried using a Taser to shock Contreras when he was on the stairs and tear gas through a window after he’d barricaded himself inside during an hours-long standoff, but both attempts were unsuccessful.

A police dog named Axel was sent up the stairs but was hurt when Contreras kicked him several times in the head, police said.

The suspect eventually surrendered to SWAT members and was taken to Trios Southridge Hospital with minor injuries.

He currently is locked up on $100,000 bail.

This story was originally published October 19, 2017 at 12:23 PM with the headline "Kennewick man set fire to neighbor’s home with 3 kids and parents inside, say police."