An early-morning blaze displaced at least 75 Seven Springs Village apartment residents today, after a man accused of attacking his girlfriend set fire to her home in an apparent attempt to escape from police, fire and police officials said.
The majority of displaced residents at the Cherry Hill Road high rise were students, Prince George’s Fire spokesman Mark Brady said, and most in the 220-unit high rise were evacuated after police spotted smoke pouring from a third-floor apartment window. The man charged with setting the fire was arrested as he attempted to flee the building, police said.
The man charged, Eric Partlow, 38, of Capitol Heights, is not a student. Police declined to identify the 37-year-old victim.
Two people, including a firefighter from the College Park Volunteer Fire Department were injured, but both were released from local hospitals. The victim of the attack, who police said was raped and assaulted before the blaze was set, remains hospitalized. She was not in the apartment when the fire started, Prince George’s Police spokeswoman Cpl. Diane Richardson said.
It is unclear how many students were affected by the fire, but 25 apartments were ruled uninhabitable and the property managers were working to relocate those residents to vacant apartments elsewhere in the complex. Messages left for the property manager were not immediately returned.
“The hallway is toast and there is literally a waterfall running down our stairway,” said Liz Davis, a senior accounting major who lives directly across the hall from where the fire broke out. “Every time a door opened a waft of smoke came through.”
Davis said her apartment had serious water damage, and said she would have to move to another apartment in the complex.
Richardson described a “very intense and chaotic scene” last night, that began after a man attacked his girlfriend walking through the complex with her sister. The man said he had a gun and intended to shoot and kill the girlfriend, Richardson said, and dragged her into a small trash room in the complex.
The victim’s sister called police, but before they arrived, Richardson said Partlow raped the victim.
“After he sexually assaulted her he took her keys and went inside” the apartment, Richardson said. “We were trying to establish contact, and he would pick up the phone on and off and refused to come out.”
Police had already made contact with the victim and led her to safety before her alleged attacker fled to the apartment, Richardson said. Fire officials were called when police spotted the smoke more than an hour after receiving the call from the victim’s sister.
The scene became further complicated, Richardson said, as the residents began evacuating and police continued to try and reach the man accused of setting the blaze. Partlow was arrested as he fled an exit on the ground level, Richardson said, and was charged with first degree rape, first-degree arson and assault.
Although fire spokesman Brady said the scene was at one point a “barricade situation,” Richardson said details from the incident were still sketchy, but that police believe the man may have set the fire in attempt to distract officers and make his escape.
Damages were estimated at about $300,000, Brady said. The Diamondback will update this article in the print edition on Monday.
Reporter Jamie Hale contributed to this report. Contact reporter Kevin Litten at littendbk@gmail.com
