After Losing House To Bank, Man Accused Of Setting It On Fire: PD

EAST HAVEN, CT — A man who told police he was upset about having his former East Haven home foreclosed on is charged with setting fire to the house Friday, police and fire officials said Saturday.

On Friday, the East Haven Public Safety Dispatch Center received a 911 call from a caller stating she had just returned to her foreclosed property at 85 Henry Street and could smell smoke and hear the smoke detectors sounding.

Upon arrival of East Haven Fire Department personnel, they located a fire contained to a pile of combustible material in a rear bedroom that contained no furniture, which prevented the fire from becoming worse, police said.

Although in the process of foreclosure, the house still had inhabitants, which compounded the seriousness of the fire which was contained within minutes of the Fire Department’s arrival, officials said.

"Through a collaborative investigation between the East Haven Police Department Detective Division, East Haven Fire Department Fire Marshal’s Office, and Connecticut State Police Fire and Explosives Unit, it was determined that a former resident of 85 Henry Street, Joshua Miller, 26, intentionally set the fire after retrieving some personal belongings at the residence," police said in a news release.

Miller told investigators that while at the house he became emotional about losing the house to the bank and threw a lit cigarette near a towel, which set the blaze, police said. Miller stated he then walked out of the house and locked the front door, police said.

Miller then drove to the center of town where his mother was, picked her up at a doctor’s office and reported the fire to her, which prompted her to respond to the residence, police said.

She then called 911 when she arrived to the smell of smoke and the sound of smoke detectors, police said.

Miller is charged with third-degree arson, first-degree criminal mischief, and second-degree falsely reporting in the second-degree. After the arson arrest, Miller is currently being held on a $100,000 bond.