DURANT — Charges have been filed against a man accused of setting a fire at a home and then throwing a gas heater at a police officer.

Clifford Ray Gibson Jr. 32, Durant, was charged Tuesday with first-degree arson and assault and battery upon a police officer.

Firefighters responded at 9:55 p.m. Monday to a home at 213 S. Fifth Ave. where a couch had been set on fire. According to police, the fire was put out and Gibson, the renter, was told to not start anymore fires.

At 11:10 p.m. that evening, Patrolman Wesley Crank drove by and saw a recliner on fire. Crank also noticed smoke coming from the home, according to police, and there was a small fire on the carpet that had been extinguished.

The other tenant told Crank he had just moved into the home and was afraid to go to sleep because he feared Gibson would burn the house down and kill them both, the report stated.

Crank left the home to make hotel arrangements for the other tenant and Adult Protective Services were told about the situation.

At approximately 12:15 a.m. Tuesday, Adult Protective Services requested police assistance due to Gibson’s violent history, according to the report. When Crank arrived, a television was burning on the front lawn and Gibson ran inside the house.

According to the report, Gibson yelled obscenities and told the officer to come get him. Police said that Gibson hurled a lit gas furnace at Crank and that the carpet was ignited. A scuffle ensued and Crank administered several blows with a closed fist to try to gain compliance from Gibson.

Crank was able to gain control of Gibson, according to the report, and he was placed in handcuffs. Durant firefighters put out the fire and Gibson was booked into jail.

In other crimes, Otho Ervin Head Jr., 18, has been charged this week with transmitting body fluid upon another. He was arrested Friday after officers went to Timber Ridge Apartments about an intoxicated man knocking on doors. Officers Brandon Carbaugh and Logan Prather made contact with Head at an apartment.

According to police, he screamed obscenities and after spitting on Prather, he was taken to the floor.

Head declined to comply with officer orders, according to the report, so Prather blasted him with a burst of pepper spray. He was then handcuffed and taken to jail. Spitting on a police officer is a felony.

A man arrested last week for suspicion of sexually assaulting a woman has been charged.

Johnny Eric Johnston, 32, Durant, was charged Tuesday with rape by instrumentation. The charge was the result of an investigation by the Bryan County Sheriff’s Office that he used his fingers to sexually assault a woman on Nov. 25.