DEPUTIES: Suicidal man charged with setting home on fire

PELETIER, N.C. (WITN) - A man has been charged with setting fire to the home that he rented in Carteret County.

Jeffrey Joseph, of Peletier, has been charged with second degree arson.

Deputies say they were called to Whitehouse Fork Road around 7:00 p.m. Wednesday for a domestic violence case. They say Joseph barricaded himself in the home while making suicidal threats.

Deputies said the man poured gasoline in the house and was threatening to kill himself.

The county’s Special Response Team negotiated with the man for several hours and they say he eventually set fire to the house and refused to come out.

As deputies and firefighters began to fight the fire, Joseph was spotted near an open window and pulled to safety.

After an evaluation at a hospital, the 49-year-old man was charged.

Joseph is being held on a $75,000 secured bond and will have a first appearance on Friday.

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