Man faces arson charge after apartment fire displaces 12

By L. Finch, Globe Correspondent

A 19-year-old man faces arson and breaking-and-entering charges after he allegedly set fire today to a Dorchester apartment building where his mother had been evicted.

The mid-day blaze at 6-8 Westville Terrace caused an estimated $75,000 in damage and displaced 12 tenants, police and fire officials said. No one was injured.

The landlord told police that he found Brendan Sanders, whose mother had been recently evicted, in her former apartment, according to the police report. After he told Sanders to leave, Sanders declared he would burn the apartment down before drawing a knife and fleeing.

The landlord then called police, and after taking his information, officers on the scene spotted Sanders sprinting away from the building one street over around the time the fire started. Witnesses also placed Sanders at the building when the blaze began, according to the police report.