A Tempe man has been taken into custody after police say he punched an officer in the face after setting several fires outside a business.
Rodney Brown, 39, faces multiple charges, including aggravated assault against an officer, criminal damage, arson and disorderly conduct.
The incident happened Monday night near McClintock Drive and Baseline Road in Tempe. A business owner in the area called police when she noticed a man, later identified as Brown, breaking an antenna off an employee's car in the parking lot, then putting something in the car's gas tank and trying to light it on fire with a lighter, police said. Those inside the business then told police they saw Brown then use a lighter to set a fire in a garbage can next to the business, court documents said.