Man Arrested for Allegedly Throwing Dog Off 3rd Floor Balcony and Setting His Apartment Building on Fire By Angel Saunders

A Maryland man has been arrested after he allegedly threw a dog from an apartment balcony and started a two-alarm fire.

Floyd Rich V was arrested and charged with arson in the first degree, the Prince George’s County Fire Department said in a statement on Monday, Dec. 8. He was also charged with malicious destruction of property and reckless endangerment in connection with the incident.

The 2-alarm fire happened in the 9500 block of Muirkirk Road in Laurel on Sunday, Dec. 7. First responders were dispatched just before 9 p.m. local time. 

A woman who spoke with FOX 5 DC claimed the situation stemmed from a domestic dispute earlier that day. 

“The person in the house was having a manic episode,” the woman, who did not share her name, claimed. “It started, first, with him throwing my dog over the balcony, and then my personal belongings.”

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The woman’s dog is expected to survive, according to the news station.

Authorities reportedly received a call about the dog being tossed over the third-floor balcony around 2:35 p.m., before later responding to the blaze.

Footage shared by the news station also showed a neighbor in the Laurel apartment complex using a speaker and a microphone to warn others that their building was on fire. 

Displaced residents received assistance from the Red Cross, CBS Baltimore reported.

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The suspect was hospitalized in serious condition with non-life-threatening before being charged, per FOX 5 DC, CBS Baltimore and WJLA reported. On Monday, FOX 5 DC reported that the individual remained hospitalized.

PEOPLE did not immediately receive a response from the Prince George’s County Police Department.