Homeless man to be evaluated after arrest for early-morning arson fires in Lynn

LYNN – A homeless man must undergo a 20-day mental health evaluation after he allegedly set five arson fires in trash barrels and Dumpsters around downtown Lynn Wednesday morning, causing one house to catch fire and almost causing a Boston Street gas station to explode.A Lynn District Court-appointed mental health doctor said in court that 58-year-old Isidoro Taveras “clearly has some psychiatric issues” and his recent medical treatment has been “spotty at best.”The doctor said Taveras was “paranoid” and thought “he was going to be killed by the police” when he allegedly set five separate fires, including one that caused the back of a home at 87 Franklin St. to catch fire at about 4 a.m. A fire department official says the home suffered nearly $10,000 in damages but the fire could have ended much worse.”It could have been a disaster,” Lt. Dave Legere of the Lynn Arson Squad said.”Luckily the next door neighbors woke up to feed their baby,” Legere continued. “He smelled smoke then saw flames in the back of the house, against the building. The smoke alarms weren’t going off so he threw rocks at the windows to wake people up.”Legere says the suspect likely lit a trash barrel on fire without it being noticed for 30 minutes. The flames spread to two more trash barrels before catching onto the house.”If he and his wife didn’t wake up, who knows what would have happened?” he said.The second near-catastrophe of the morning occurred at the Global gas station at 180 Boston St., where police say Taveras lit a trash barrel on fire and placed it against a gas pump.This was the last in a series of fires that were reported to the police and fire departments simultaneously.The incidents began at 2 a.m. inside the homeless shelter at 100 Willow St.Police officers Michael Crosby Jr. and Ryan Dulong responded to the shelter to remove an unwanted person, who was later identified as Taveras. The man had locked himself in a bathroom stall and was lighting cigarettes. Other than Taveras’ loud protests, police removed him from the shelter without incident.Exactly six minutes later, police were called to the Hess gas station, which is located directly across the street from the shelter, and noticed three plastic bags containing clothing were on fire. According to Legere, the gas station attendant described the suspect to police.”She said it was the guy who you just took out of the shelter,” he said.Police also noted that the bags on fire looked like the same plastic bags Taveras was holding when he left the shelter.The two officers extinguished the fire with a fire extinguisher and went back on routine patrol.About one hour and 45 minutes later, police and firefighters received multiple reports of fires.As crews responded to a Dumpster fire on 15 Franklin St., a call for another Dumpster fire came in at 80 Market St., which is behind Zimman’s furniture store.The firefighters started extinguishing both fires when another 911 call came in from a pay phone at Stop and Shop on Washington Street. The caller said, “Hurry up! Hurry up!” according to a police report.Police responded and found nothing, but looked across the street and noticed Taveras walking along Boston Street.Police questioned Taveras in front of Rossi’s Monuments and say he appeared very fidgety and kept his hands in his pockets. When told to show his hands, Taveras allegedly replied, “(Expletive) you. I am FBI.”Police searched Taveras for their safety and say his clothing reeked of smoke.The officers then noticed a cloud of black smoke drifting by.Additional officers responding to the scene drove by the gas station and saw a fire next to one of the Global gas pumps, police said.A police report says officers Michael Gorman and Crosby used a fire extinguisher to put out the fire, which was in a trash barrel directly next to the gas pump.When that fire was put out, police and firefighters received the final call of the morning – the fire in the back of the 87 Franklin St. house.Taveras was ar