HAMMER-WIELDING MAN GOES AFTER FIREFIGHTERS

Bakersfield Police have arrested a man for trying to attack the firefighters who saved him from a burning apartment.

Neighbors at the complex near Niles and Haley streets saw smoke coming from his bedroom around 9:00 Tuesday morning, and Bakersfield Fire Battalion Chief Anthony Galagaza says they tried to get the suspect out of the bathroom, where he had barricaded himself. The man then came out a few minutes later with a hammer but dropped it when an arson investigator pulled out a gun.

The cause of the fire is not known. Damage is estimated at $20,000.

Kelli Forsch