Mass. Man Who Doused Cop With Gas Was 'Stressed'

RANDOLPH - A relative said the man accused of setting fire to his family's home late Saturday night suffered from mental illness.

Raphael Theophile, 54, was charged with arson, 13 counts of assault to murder, burning of a dwelling and assault with a dangerous weapon. He was being held without bail pending his arraignment on the charges today in Quincy District Court.

Jaude Louis, who said he is Theophile's brother-in-law, said Theophile's illness had cost him his job as a school bus driver two or three years ago. Theophile had been suffering from depression, Louis said.

"He was stressed out," Louis said.

Theophile recently was taken to a hospital for treatment but had not been taking his medication, Louis said.

Sunday afternoon, Theophile's wife and children returned to the gutted remains of their two-story duplex to see what possessions they could salvage. The first items brought out were a stack of framed pictures.

On the lawn were the springs from mattresses that burned in the fire. With the exception of the storm door, all of the front windows of the house had been knocked out and the roof over the one-car garage had collapsed.

The fire was reported a couple of minutes before midnight Saturday, police said.

When police arrived, people outside the house told them a man was inside trying to burn the place, said Randolph police Lt. Charles Thistle.

Police officer Marc L'Italien entered the house through a back door and had difficulty seeing through the smoke, Thistle said.

"As soon as (L'Italien) turns the corner, (Theophile) pours gasoline on him," Thistle said.

Both then exited the house, and officers could see Theophile had two large knives in his belt, Thistle said.

The officers drew their weapons on Theophile and ordered him to the ground, and he complied, Thistle said.

L'Italien was not injured.

"He went home, changed his shirt and came back for the rest of his shift," Thistle said.

The lieutenant praised L'Italien, police officers Douglas Morgan and Kevin Donnelly and Sgt. Richard Hughes for their handling of the arrest.

"The officers did a fantastic job preventing any injuries," Thistle said.

He said police had "nothing much of a history" of problems at the address.

Town records show Theophile purchased the condo in October 2005. It is in a neighborhood of duplexes in the Highland Glen area, not far from Randolph High School.

Firefighters and apparatus from Randolph and seven other departments were called to the scene of the three-alarm fire, Fire Chief Charles Foley said.

Hearing that someone may still be inside, firefighters searched the building while fighting the fire, Foley said. No one else was found inside.

"The firefighters did an outstanding job saving the other side" of the duplex at 15 Turning Mill Lane, which was not damaged by the flames, Foley said.

There were five locations in the house where the fire had been started, Foley said.

All 13 occupants of the duplex got out safely, and no firefighters were injured, he said.

Responding to the scene were firefighters and equipment from Milton, Braintree, Holbrook, Avon, Stoughton, Canton and Weymouth. Station coverage was provided by the Quincy, Dedham and Sharon departments.

The fire is being investigated by the State Fire Marshal's Office and Randolph Deputy Fire Chief Richard Donovan.

WEB EXTRA

See video from the fire scene atPatriotLedger.com.