Brandon Nathaniel Lyon, 22, faces\u00a0attempted murder, assault and arson charges accusing him of setting a fire that sent a 54-year-old man to the hospital with third-degree burns, according to Medford police Lt. Mike Budreau.<\/p>\n
Budreau described the case as \u201ca strange one for us\u201d with no clear motive, and no clear connection between Lyon and the 54-year-old burn victim beyond that both men are homeless.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is very unusual, very concerning,\u201d Budreau said. \u201cThere\u2019s no connection at all between them.\u201d<\/p>\n
At about 3:56 a.m. Tuesday, Lyon was allegedly captured on\u00a0surveillance video\u00a0using a lighter to set fire to the victim\u2019s blanket in an alley in\u00a0the 100\u00a0block of South Grape Street, according to Budreau and\u00a0court documents\u00a0filed by Medford police in Lyon\u2019s case. The video allegedly showed Lyon watching the fire get bigger and walk away eastbound on foot.<\/p>\n
The victim used his hands to extinguish the flames, but suffered third-degree burns to his hands and feet. He was taken to Providence Medford\u00a0Medical Center, and police say he\u2019ll have permanent scaring on his left foot. He remains hospitalized and is in stable condition.<\/p>\n
Budreau said \u201chigh quality\u201d\u00a0surveillance video\u00a0helped police make an arrest. The video allegedly showed a suspect fitting Lyon\u2019s description wearing distinctive clothing that included red, black and\u00a0white shoes\u00a0and a large necklace. A photo of the suspect was sent out to Medford patrol officers.<\/p>\n
On Wednesday morning, police say they found Lyon sleeping in Hawthorne Park wearing an identical necklace and shoes as those captured in the video.<\/p>\n
Lyon allegedly made admissions to police about setting the fire, but stated \u201che did not know why\u201d he started the fire, according to an affidavit filed by police. Investigators were able to recover the lighter and all clothing in the\u00a0surveillance video.<\/p>\n
Budreau said his department is baffled by a possible motive in the fire.<\/p>\n
\u201cTo our knowledge this individual doesn\u2019t have a\u00a0criminal history\u00a0for lighting fires and fire events,\u201d Budreau said. \u201cIt would be hard to explain this one anyway, but this one is definitely stumping us.\u201d<\/p>\n
Jackson County\u00a0Circuit Court\u00a0records show no prior felony arrests or convictions for Lyon, but several misdemeanor convictions since 2016 primarily related to methamphetamine possession.<\/p>\n
Lyon made his initial court appearance Thursday on charges of attempted second-degree murder, first-degree arson and first- and second-degree assault.<\/p>\n
At the hearing,\u00a0Jackson County\u00a0Circuit Court\u00a0Judge Laura Cromwell set bail at $1 million and set intensive conditions should he be released that include requiring him to be subject to GPS monitoring or regular check-in, not to possess firearms, not to consume alcohol or intoxicants, and not to possess any fire starting instrument \u201cincluding matches, lighters and butane torches.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Brandon Nathaniel Lyon, 22, faces\u00a0attempted murder, assault and arson charges accusing him of setting a fire that sent a 54-year-old man to the hospital with third-degree burns, according to Medford police Lt. Mike Budreau. Budreau described the case as \u201ca strange one for us\u201d with no clear motive, and no clear connection between Lyon and the 54-year-old burn victim beyond that both men are homeless. \u201cThis is very unusual, very concerning,\u201d Budreau said. \u201cThere\u2019s no connection at all between them.\u201d At about 3:56 a.m. Tuesday, Lyon was allegedly captured on\u00a0surveillance video\u00a0using a lighter to set fire to the victim\u2019s blanket […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3147,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[58],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\n