Merced woman accused of chasing man with knife, setting fire to apartment complex
Merced police have arrested a woman accused of chasing a man down the street with a knife, then setting fire to an apartment complex.
Earlier this month, officers responded to a report of a woman chasing a man with a knife on the 100 block of West Main Street. By the time they arrived, the woman was nowhere to be found but the victim, identified only as an adult male, was waiting for them at the corner of H and West Main.
While speaking with the victim, officers noticed smoke coming out of a nearby vacant apartment building. When they went to investigate, they found 41-year-old Amanda Collins standing in the doorway.
Police say Collins admitted to starting the fire, and that she was soon thereafter identified by the victim as the person who’d chased him with a knife.
Collins was ultimately arrested and booked on suspicion of terrorist threats, arson, brandishing a knife, and trespassing. Merced Fire personnel responded to the scene and extinguished the fire.
