NORTH MIAMI, Fla. — A 35-year-old homeless man was arrested Wednesday after police say he was caught on surveillance video setting fire to items outside a North Miami home and later reigniting the flames near the home.

The suspect, Royer Eliezer Pantabillu, faces one count each of first-degree arson and possession of cocaine, jail records show.

North Miami police said officers were dispatched around 4:30 a.m. Wednesday to a home near the 12000 block of Northeast Sixth Ave. in reference to a reported arson incident that had occurred earlier that morning.

According to an arrest report, the victim told officers he observed Pantabillu on a home security camera entering the back area of the home gathering miscellaneous items, pouring gasoline from a red container onto them, and setting them on fire.

The report states that the victim then alerted his wife, who was sleeping inside the home. She then went outside and extinguished the fire before it could spread to the home, police said.

The victim told police that after his wife returned inside, Pantabillu came back and reignited the fire in an area closer to the home, according to investigators.

The report states that the woman had to extinguish the flames a second time.

Police said officers later made contact with Pantabillu, who was wearing clothing consistent with the individual seen on the surveillance footage. They said he was later identified at the scene by the victim.

After searching Pantabillu, officers said they found a hard, white, powdery substance in Pantabillu’s possession that later tested positive for crack cocaine.

As of Wednesday, he was being held on a $27,500 bond at the Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center.

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