PD: Bend transient set mom’s car, home on fire

A 39-year-old Bend transient who set his mother’s SUV ablaze and tried to burn her southeast Bend home when she refused to let him in was found hiding in her backyard and arrested, police said Thursday.

Police and firefighters were dispatched shortly before 3 a.m. Wednesday to the home in the 700 block of Southeast Douglas Street on a report to 911 of a car fire, said Lt. Nick Parker.

They arrived to find a maroon 2001 Ford Escape on fire in the driveway, he said. The 64-year-old Bend woman who owns the car was inside the house at the time.

Firefighters put out the car fire before it reached any nearby structures, but the SUV is believed to be a total loss, Parker said.

Officers investigating the incident developed evidence tying the woman’s son, Adri Dorian Pitts, to starting the car fire after she refused entry into her home, the lieutenant said, noting that she has an active restraining order against her son.

Further investigation found a second fire was intentionally set on the home’s exterior, Parker said. The fire caused minor damage to the home’s siding before burning itself out.

Adri Pitts was found hiding in his mother’s backyard and lodged at the Deschutes County Jail on numerous charges, Parker said. No one was injured in the incident.

Parker listed the initial charges as second-degree arson, reckless endangering, attempted assault and violation of a restraining order.

Pitts remained held Thursday on $160,000 bail, also facing charges of contempt of court, coercion, first-degree arson, harassment, interfering with making a report, fourth-degree assault and menacing