16-year-old fighting with mom lights Hilton lobby couch on fire, Florida cops say
A teen lit a Hilton hotel lobby couch on fire in Florida and has been charged with arson, police say and news outlets report.
The 16-year-old girl, visiting Ocala from Peoria, Illinois, was fighting with her mother, according to a July 25 news release from the Ocala Police Department.
The fight escalated, police said, and around 3:30 a.m. the teen lit one of the couches on the ground floor on fire.
When firefighters arrived, they helped to evacuate the 320 guests staying in the hotel, police said.
In a Facebook post from the fire department, firefighters said they used a thermal imaging camera to see through the heavy smoke and make their way to the burning couch in a hallway near the banquet rooms.
Within seven minutes, the fire had been extinguished, the fire department said, and the guests were able to return to their rooms soon after.
“Given the deliberate nature of the blaze, the Ocala Police Department is treating the fire as arson,” the fire department said in the post.
No injuries were reported, but police said the estimated damage to the hotel is roughly hundreds of thousands of dollars.
Police identified the teen staying at the hotel and charged her with arson of an occupied structure and criminal mischief greater than $1,000, according to WKMG.
Police did not release whether the teen is in custody.
Ocala is about 80 miles northwest of Orlando.
This story was originally published July 25, 2023 at 5:35 PM with the headline "16-year-old fighting with mom lights Hilton lobby couch on fire, Florida cops say."
