Beverly Bruce was watching "The Voice" Monday night when her grandson came home and lit her closet on fire.
An Alachua County Sheriff's Office deputy arrested 32-year-old Keith Thomas at 10:16 p.m. Monday on charges of arson and criminal mischief, according to an arrest report.
At about 9:45 p.m., Thomas, who Bruce said is mentally challenged, came home from drinking at a bar with his friend. He wanted to drive to see his girlfriend, but Bruce wouldn't let him. She said she hid the keys in her pocket so he wouldn't find them.
"He really only gets like this when he is drunk," said Bruce, 73. "He's real sweet when he is sober."
After frantically searching for his grandmother's car keys, Thomas went into an empty bedroom and walked into the storage closet where Bruce stored her 5-foot-tall fake Christmas tree. He then lit a match and set the box holding the tree ablaze, according to the arrest report.
Bruce said she did not chase him when he went into the bedroom. She sat in her chair and continued watching "The Voice," a reality TV singing competition.
Bruce said she was accustomed to her grandson's drunken outbursts after living with him for nine years. However, she said his behavior has never caused her to call the police.
"I called the police, but I wasn't afraid of him," she said. "He would never hurt me. Never."
Ten minutes later, she saw a flickering light in the empty bedroom adjacent to her living room. She walked into the room and saw flames.
Bruce, who needs a tank of oxygen to breathe, tried to think of a safe place to go. She said she remembered there was a built-in oxygen tank in her car and headed for her driveway.
"I saw those flames, and I said, ‘I'm outta here,'" Bruce said. "‘You're not blowin' me up.'"
Bruce locked herself in her car and called the police. In the meantime, Thomas took a steak knife from the kitchen, walked outside and slashed the front left tire of her white Honda Civic, according to the police report.
Within minutes, Bruce said, two deputies' vehicles and a fire truck were outside her door.
The fire burned several plastic boxes, coat hangers and the cardboard box holding her Christmas tree, according to the arrest report. Damage from the fire did not exceed $1,000.
Thomas's bond has not been set, and he was in the Alachua County Jail as of Tuesday night, according to the county Clerk of Court website.
"I just want him to get some help," Bruce said. "He just needs help."
