Police: Suicidal Man Charged with Arson After Setting Hampton Inn Mattress on Fire

Iowa City Police and Firefighters responded to the Hampton Inn at 4 Sturgis Corner Drive after a woman caller informed authorities that a suicidal man she had on the phone had just lit his mattress on fire at the hotel. 

According to Iowa City Police, the responders arrived at the Hampton Inn at 6:45 p.m. Sunday night after the woman caller alerted them. The woman told the officer on the line that the man on the phone had told the woman that he was "in a bad place" and he was going to "take himself" by lighting the mattress on fire.

When responders arrived at the inn the man was the only one present in the room, which at that time was filled with smoke. The Iowa City Fire Department reported that the room's smoke alarm had been disabled. 

The man was arrested and charged with first-degree arson, a Class B felony that is levied against someone who starts a fire that either threatens multiple people within a residence or property or results in the death of a firefighter. The man is now in the Johnson County Jail on $50,000 bail.

Patch does not typically name people who commit or attempt to commit suicide.