An 18-year-old San Tan Valley man, Luther Cruz, was arrested on September 3 for attempting to burn down his house with three adult family members inside. He was arrested after family members stopped him from igniting a propane tank inside the family home on E. Coral Bean Drive.
Cruz is being held in the Pinal County Adult Detention Center awaiting charges of Attempted Murder, Arson of an Occupied Structure, Aggravated Assault and Felony Endangerment.
Pinal County Sheriff Paul Babeu said, “Our 9-1-1 communications center received the emergency call at 7:25 p.m. from the suspect’s sister, who told us that her brother was trying to light a propane tank on fire inside their house. The operator could hear a violent struggle in the background, which we later learned were the family members desperately trying to restrain Luther from lighting the tank on fire. Fortunately, his family kept him restrained until the deputies arrived and took custody of him.” Sheriff Babeu went on to say, “We learned from family members that Luther was behaving erratically and at one point, brought a 20-gallon propane tank into the living room. He poured tequila over and around the tank and went to the kitchen to get matches. He was attempting to light the matches to the tank when his brother and father pushed him away from the propane tank. A violent struggle ensued and Luther was restrained.”
Family members reported that only recently did Luther exhibit signs of mental instability and they have no explanation for his violent behavior. Luther was interviewed by deputies after his arrest. He admitted that he was trying to light the propane tank on fire with the goal of burning down the house. He said that he hoped that he would die in the fire and had no regard for the safety of his family members that lived in there.