Florida Woman Arrested For Arson, After Setting Basket of Clothes on Fire

It happened just to our south in Charlotte County. A Punta Gorda woman is facing a charge of arson. She is accused of setting a laundry basket full of her own clothes on fire. The incident occurred in December 2020.

The Charlotte County Sheriff's Office SAYS THAT, Elizabeth LaFleur, 30, was arrested Sunday (4/20/21) following an investigation into the fire that was set at a home on Grover Avenue in Punta Gorda.

Court documents say, fire crews responded to reports of a house fire on December 20, 2020, and found the fire had started in a white plastic laundry basket, which was full of clothing.

A neighbor told fire crews Ms. LaFleur came to her home and admitted to setting her mother’s house on fire.

Neighbors also told first responders they rushed to douse the flames with water and dragged the smoldering clothes basket outside. Investigators said the clothes had been doused in lighter fluid and then lit on fire.

The 30-year-old, reportedly, grabbed the mother’s pet bird and ran into the woods when fire crews arrived.

The basket of clothes was extinguished and a nearby gas can and lighter fluid container were removed from the home by a neighbor