Northampton Police are investigating a possible connection between a man arrested Saturday in Williamsburg and the fire set earlier that afternoon in Look Park.
Williamsburg Police Officer Jason Soukup told the Gazette on Tuesday that he responded to the bike path shortly before 6 p.m. Saturday after receiving a call that there was a man setting a fire near the Northampton city line in Haydenville.
Soukup said he found Gregory McMaster, 38, of Springfield, who fled “into the woods, down an embankment and into the Mill River.” Soukup said he then caught up with McMaster and was able to arrest him.
Soukup said McMaster was wanted on a warrant issued in Hampden County for burning personal property.
Soukup said that McMaster was arrested on new charges of assault and battery on a police officer, disorderly conduct, resisting arrest, and assault and battery with a dangerous weapon on a person over 60 years old.
The last charge resulted from McMaster kicking a potted plant into the leg of a woman whose backyard he ran through while trying to flee, according to Soukup. The woman sustained minor injuries, he said.
Shawn Porter, executive director of Look Park, said that park employees saw someone in a baseball cap “scurrying” away from the scene of the fire in a pile of brush and debris, which started around 3:30 p.m. Saturday.
Northampton Police Chief Jody Kasper told the Gazette Tuesday that the department is still investigating any connection between the fire at Look Park and the report in Williamsburg that led to McMaster’s arrest.
Kasper said that authorities believe the Look Park fire was arson.
She said, “Any time we have fires that are suspicious in close proximity we might consider if it’s the same suspect.”
Amanda Drane can be contacted at adrane@gazettenet.com.