Kiowa man charged with setting residence on fire

Dec. 8—A Kiowa man was arrested and charged after chasing another man with a "stick" and setting fire to a residence Monday.

Court records show Jace Rice, 38, was charged in Choctaw Nation District Court this week with felonious assault and battery with a deadly weapon, malicious injury/destruction of property, and violating a protective order.

Rice was being held Thursday on a $15,000 bond and was ordered to stay away from the residence and to receive a mental health evaluation, according to court records.

A probable cause affidavit filed in the case states law enforcement were dispatched to a residence on Biggers Road near Kiowa for a report of a possible protective order violation with shots fired.

The affidavit states law enforcement officers saw Rice between a trailer house that was on fire and another residence "carrying a piece of metal pipe in the shape of a T."

Rice refused to obey law enforcement commands and began to break windows from a residence before officers were able to take the man into custody, the report states.

Law enforcement then turned attention to the man who fired a shot at Rice, who remained inside a residence before coming out of the residence holding a firearm, the affidavit states.

The man "was given several commands to drop the gun and continued to approach our location, failing to drop the firearm," the report states. "As the man got to the back of the truck, he began to comply with commands and the gun was placed on the ground."

Rice told officers he approached the man from behind with a "large stick." The man told investigators he noticed Rice had the stick and pulled a gun on Rice telling him he would shoot if he didn't drop the stick.

"Rice stated he did not drop the stick and began to play 'red rover' attempting to distance himself from the man as the man followed him around a car," the report states with the man firing a shot at Rice with Rice stating, "he still did not drop the stick."

Rice then told investigators he went inside a trailer home and placed the stick on a lit stove to catch the residence on fire in order to save the life of another individual located at the residence, the report states.

Investigators determined that the man who fired the shot was attempting to defend himself and was released from being detained, the affidavit states.

Contact Derrick James at djames@mcalesternews.com