A man caught running from the scene of a fire with a box of matches has been ordered to undergo further mental evaluation to see if he’s sane to stand trial for arson.The suspect, Gregory B. Bray, is charged with trying to burn down his grandmother’s house and then claim it was an accident. He was caught by police as he was running from the house immediately after the fire began.The officer, who had been in the neighborhood on another matter, spoke with him and then did a pat down and discovered a box of matches in his pocket.“A box of matches on a man running from the scene of a fire sets off red flags,” said McMinnville police detective Todd Rowland.The major red flag in the case came when arson investigators with the fire department discovered two points of origin for the fire, meaning it was set in two separate areas. Rowland said that does not happen by accident.“When you have two points of origin for a fire, that’s indicative of arson,” Rowland noted.Bray maintained he had been lighting candles in a back bedroom when the fire began.Bray underwent a mental evaluation prior to his arrest but the psychologist told the court he could not make a determination without having Bray under an inpatient evaluation.
Man caught running with matches from fire to undergo mental evaluation