60-year-old man arrested on charges of attempted murder, arson

Titusville police: Suspect almost set man on fire

TITUSVILLE, Fla. – Titusville police on Tuesday arrested a 60-year-old man on attempted murder and arson charges.

Officers said Barrett Antoine Bickers intentionally lit a campsite on fire, almost burning a camper.

Police responded to a large fire around 10:30 p.m. Friday in a wooded area near the 4200 block of Hopkins Avenue.

Police said Ronald Baker was sleeping when the campsite was lit on fire. Baker told police he was asleep when he heard the sound of leaves crackling from the fire and recognized Bickers' voice nearby.

"I was laying in bed over there and these big orange balls of fire came up," Baker said. "About died, I almost had a heart attack running."

Baker told police he was able to escape before the fire consumed his area.

Witnesses told investigators the campsite fire was intentionally set by Bickers, according to a Titusville Police Department news release.

Officers found Bickers on Tuesday morning and took him into custody without incident. Bickers told officers he planned to harm three homeless individuals who lived in the area where he lit the fire, according to a police report.

Police said before the attack, Bickers told his plans to Baker's ex-girlfriend and the woman went into the woods to warn the men, but they did not believe her.

"She was going, 'He's going to kill you. He's going to kill you. He's going to firebomb you. He's making bombs as we speak,'" Baker said.

Neither police nor Baker provided a possible motive.

Baker said he's known Bickers for about a year and that Bickers is also homeless.                     

Bickers was booked into the Brevard County Jail and a judge assigned him an $85,000 bond Wednesday.


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