A Salem man is accused of intentionally setting a fire at his ex-girlfriend’s apartment building in West Salem that killed three pets and drew a large emergency response in October.

Police arrested Calvin J. Tucker III, 54, early Tuesday morning after two months of investigation, the Salem Police Department said in a statement Wednesday.

Tucker is being held at the Polk County Jail on charges of first-degree arson and first-degree animal abuse, according to the jail roster. Polk County Circuit Court records show Tucker is facing three counts of arson.

The Oct. 3 fire Tucker is charged with setting was reported at 10:07 p.m. at an apartment complex at at 228 Stoneway Dr. N.W., Salem Reporter previously reported. The fire damaged four units, a staircase and roof at the complex.

No injuries to people were reported, but three pets were killed, police said this week. Six adults and seven children were displaced by the fire, the Salem Fire Department previously said, and it caused an estimated $100,000 in damage.

A Salem police officer’s affidavit sheds light on how investigators connected Tucker to the fire.

One resident told responders she saw another resident’s former boyfriend “stalking” the complex during the week prior, the affidavit said. The resident saw the boyfriend, whom she identified as Tucker, look into one unit before going back to a car, waiting for 10 minutes and driving off.

Tucker’s former girlfriend was not home at the time of the fire but later told investigators that he had been at her apartment days before the fire and left photographs and a key chain, according to the affidavit. She told him to stay off of her property, she said to investigators.

She described him as physically and verbally abusive and recalled domestic violence incidents with investigators.

Investigators pieced together probable cause to arrest Tucker through traffic and doorbell camera footage, the affidavit shows.

In an interview with investigators, Tucker said he drove his motorcycle to Wallace Marine Park in the early morning of Oct. 4, the day after the fire. He also said he had been home the night before.

His doorbell camera footage showed Tucker carrying “a gas can” out of his house at 9 p.m. that night, according to the affidavit. 

Officers recovered traffic camera footage showing Tucker’s car crossing into West Salem and driving onto Edgewater Street, the direction of the apartment complex, 40 minutes before the fire was reported, according to the affidavit. The car returned from West Salem around 11:50 p.m., the footage showed.

Officers arrested Tucker around 4:50 a.m. Tuesday by the Office Max on Northeast Lancaster Drive, the affidavit said.

Contact reporter Madeleine Moore: [email protected].

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