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Police: Man used bong to burn home

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NORTH VALLEY, N.M., April 13 (UPI) -- Police in New Mexico said a man charged with arson allegedly set his mobile home on fire intentionally while he was cleaning his marijuana pipe.

Investigators said Andrew Garcia, 30, of North Valley, was cleaning his bong, a water pipe typically used to smoke marijuana, with rubbing alcohol at about noon Sunday and intentionally dumped out the flammable liquid and set it on fire, the Las Cruces (N.M.) Sun-News reported Tuesday.

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Police said Garcia also set fire to curtains on windows in his children's bedroom and the kitchen.

Garcia told officers he had been upset due to a drug addiction and personal reasons. He said he set fire to the home because he was unable to find a shotgun his wife had hidden the previous day.

Police said Garcia fled a pursing deputy but was arrested when he returned to the scene of the fire. He was charged with a second-degree felony count of arson and a fourth-degree felony charge of fleeing a law-enforcement officer.

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