A Miami University student is facing multiple charges in Butler County Area I Court after he allegedly tried to set a porch full of students on fire early Sunday morning.
He was scheduled to appear in court Thursday and was granted a continuance until Jan. 18.
According to Oxford police and witness reports, Kevin Haskins, a first-year Miami student, allegedly attempted to ignite a bottle full of gasoline under the porch of apartment A at 14 S. Poplar St. around 3:45 a.m.
Matthew Wolpert, a Miami alumnus who was visiting a friend at the Poplar Street residence, said the incident started earlier in the night when Haskins and some friends walked by the porch where Wolpert and others were smoking. According to Wolpert, Haskins started a verbal confrontation with the people on the porch and had to be dragged away by his friends.
Before leaving, Haskins allegedly said that he would return with a gun and kill everybody there, according to Wolpert and police reports.
"It seemed like a drunken comment," Wolpert said about the threat. "I didn't think he would come back with a gun, let alone with a Molotov cocktail. I didn't think he was going to come back at all."
But about 20 minutes later, Haskins did return.
Wolpert said he saw Haskins approaching the building and then heard him walking around under the balcony. When Haskins came directly below Wolpert and another male they could see that he was trying to light a bottle with a cigarette lighter.
The males reported that they then threw beer on Haskins in an attempt to extinguish the lighter's flame. When they ran out the door to confront him he ran away, throwing the bottle in the parking lot where it shattered.
Wolpert said they then chased Haskins and eventually caught up with him at the corner of Church and Poplar streets where, after a struggle, they managed to detain him and call the police.
"We received a call about a disturbance at Church and Poplar where we found a group detaining a subject they said had tried to set off an incendiary device," said Oxford police Sgt. Jim Squance.
According to the police report, Haskins' face was bleeding and swollen and the group detaining him said that he had put up a fight and punched a male in the face before the group took him to the ground.
Haskins was taken to McCullough-Hyde Memorial Hospital but refused treatment. He admitted to drinking numerous shots of whiskey before being transported to the Butler County Jail.
Police returning to the Poplar Street porch found a pool of spilled gasoline at the foundation of the building and the shattered bottle that also smelled of gasoline.
"The rear of the building reeked of gasoline," Squance said. He also said the jacket Haskins was wearing when he was arrested smelled of gasoline.
Police later found a gas can on the front porch of Haskins' residence, 110 E. Sycamore St., along with signs of recent spills around the area.
Haskins was charged with one count of attempted aggravated arson, a felony, as well as one count each of aggravated menacing, assault and underage intoxication.
Senior Staci Lammering, who lives at the apartment, said she was not present for the incident but was glad that her friends were able to react and catch Haskins.
"We're really lucky that my friends were still out on the porch," she said. "Who knows what would have happened if they hadn't been out there."
