Police: Woman set fire to her apartment while being evicted

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LOUISVILLE, KY (WAVE) - A woman in the process of being evicted from her apartment tried to set fire to the building on the day before Christmas Eve, Louisville Metro police said.

According to an arrest report, a man arrived home in the 2000 block of Peabody Court on December 23 and found his apartment full of smoke. He alerted the apartment manager who found the smoke was coming from from Cherell Denise Gibson's apartment. Upon entering Gibson's apartment, he found that papers had been placed on the oven's bottom burner, which was turned on, causing a fire.

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Firefighters were able to contain the fire to Gibson's stone, police said, but the entire complex was filled with smoke.

Gibson arrived home about 10 minutes after police arrived, the report states, and told an officer she did not store papers in the oven. She also denied putting the papers inside the oven and said no one other than the landlord had a key to her apartment. Police said there was no sign of forced entry.

Gibson was arrested and charged with first-degree wanton endangerment and second-degree arson.