Man accused of locking 3 on porch, setting fire

By Times Staff Writer
Published March 5, 2008

TAMPA - Hillsborough sheriff's deputies arrested a man early Tuesday and accused him of locking three people in an enclosed, second-floor porch and setting fire to the attached apartment.

Christopher Allan Shaffer, 24, was charged with arson, three counts of false imprisonment and domestic-related battery.

Katrina Patmalnee said she, her boyfriend, Shaffer and his girlfriend - all roommates in the apartment - were on the porch at Carrollwood Station, 3202 Colwell Ave., about midnight when Shaffer and his girlfriend began arguing.

Shaffer threw an exercise ball at the woman's head, locked the three in, lit the apartment's bedroom closet on fire and ran away, an arrest report said.

The three escaped when Shaffer came back and unlocked the door, Patmalnee said.

Hillsborough County Fire Rescue officials said no one was injured. The fire displaced both couples in apartment 1408.

Patmalnee said she and her boyfriend are staying with a friend for now.

[Last modified March 4, 2008, 23:35:56]