72-Year-Old Lit Mattress On Fire In Home, Fled With Large Machete: Police

HAVERSTRAW, NY — Remarkably, there were no serious injuries reported after a tense scene at a Rockland County home.

The Haverstraw Police Department says that on Friday, around 5:19 a.m., officers responded to a home after receiving a 911 call about a disturbance involving shots fired.

Once at the scene, officers found a mattress fully engulfed in flames near the front entrance of the home, with civilians attempting to extinguish the fire, police said.

While patrol units secured the area, other officers helped in extinguishing the fire until the fire department arrived.

Police say a resident of the home had intentionally set the mattress on fire inside the residence before fleeing on foot, reportedly with a large machete.

Another resident was able to drag the burning mattress outside.

After searching the nearby area, police soon apprehended 72-year-old German Santiago, of West Haverstraw. He was arrested and charged with 11 counts of second-degree attempted murder, and second-degree arson.

Santiago was arraigned in the Village of West Haverstraw Justice Court and remanded to the Rockland County Correctional Facility.

Police say that there was no evidence of shots being fired.

The Haverstraw Police Department was assisted by the Rockland County Sheriff's Office Arson Investigation Unit and Bureau of Criminal Investigation.