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Investigators have charged a Toms River man for setting a house on fire Monday, prosecutors said in a statement released Tuesday afternoon.
Kevin Funchess, 59, of Toms River, was charged with setting the blaze that sent firefighters to the Winteringham Village apartment complex on Route 166 at about 11 p.m. Monday night. Upon arrival, emergency personnel discovered that the fire had already been extinguished. Investigators from the police department, fire marshal’s office and prosecutor’s office still investigated, with the prove having revealed that the fire originated in the living room of the structure. The cause of the fire was found to incendiary, by a person using an open flame to ignitable liquid.
Through continuing investigation, Funchess was identified as the individual responsible for setting the fire, prosecutors said in the statement. Funchess was taken into custody at the scene without incident. He was thereafter transported to Community Medical Center in Toms River for shortness of breath; once medically cleared, Funchess will be transferred to the Ocean County Jail, where he will remain lodged pending a detention hearing.
There was no record of Funchess being lodged in the jail Tuesday afternoon.
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