An Odessa man is spending his 62nd birthday in the Ector County jail after authorities said he purposely set fire to his Mazda pickup truck.
According to an Ector County Sheriff’s Office report, a deputy received reports of a truck on fire near 65th Street and Austin Avenue around 9:20 p.m. Tuesday and when he arrived, fire personnel told him a man walking south on Austin had set fire to the 1998 vehicle.
When the deputy got the man’s attention, the suspect walked toward him with a knife before continuing on, the report stated. Once the suspect got to an alley, the deputy reported he ordered the man to drop the knife, but he refused and began to walk toward him again, telling him to just shoot him.
The suspect continued to ignore commands to show the deputy his hands, even after other deputies arrived and ultimately, they were only able to take him into custody with the help of a canine officer, the report stated.
Mark Franklin West, who turned 62 Thursday, was arrested on suspicion of arson, a second-degree felony punishable by two to 20 years in prison, and resisting arrest, a misdemeanor.
He remained in the Ector County jail Thursday on surety bonds totaling $52,500.
