A Vancouver woman accused of lighting a fire inside her apartment at the Copperstone Van Mall complex last month made a first appearance in Clark County Superior Court on Monday.
Antoinette L. Lathan, 32, appeared on suspicion of first-degree arson in connection with the July 16 incident.
Vancouver police officers were dispatched about 2 p.m. to the apartment complex at 4701 N.E. 72nd Ave. after a taxi driver reported that a woman left his cab and had not returned to pay her fare, according to a probable cause affidavit.
The driver gave police a Washington identification card belonging to Lathan, which she had left in the taxi. Lathan then came out of her apartment and said she started a fire and took 120 pills, court records said.
When police opened her apartment door, they found flames in the living room. The fire was quickly extinguished, according to court documents.
The fire started in a small trash can filled with clothing, the affidavit said.
Lathan told police that she used a lighter to set paper on fire in the trash can, according to court records. She said she wanted to destroy everything because she hates everyone who lives in the complex and she wanted to die, court records said.
Lathan was subsequently transported to PeaceHealth Southwest Medical Center for an evaluation and was later admitted, according to the affidavit. She was arrested following her release from the hospital.
During Monday’s hearing, Judge Derek Vanderwood appointed attorney Heather Carroll to represent Lathan.
Her bail was set at $30,000. She is scheduled to be arraigned Aug. 21.
