Woman Charged with Arson After Lighting Roll of Toilet Paper in Holding Cell

Matt Boster

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Posted by: Matt Boster
Date: Dec 09 2016 11:59 AM

A woman in a booking facility at the Okaloosa County Extension building is charged with arson after she lit a roll of toilet paper on fire with a lighter she had hidden in a fold of body fat. The Okaloosa County Sheriff’s Office arrested 37-year old Amber Koestler on December 5th after her girlfriend said Koestler had struck her at a home on Scranton Street near Fort Walton Beach.

Deputies say as they were heading to the booking facility on Lewis Turner Boulevard, Koestler was combative, punching and kicking the door inside the patrol car. She got out of her handcuffs and when deputies opened the door to restrain her, grabbed the cuffs as if to use them as a weapon.

A taser was deployed, however was not effective since one probe did not make contact. Deputies reapplied the handcuffs but Koestler continued to be combative at the booking facility and attempted to bite a deputy. She was then escorted to a holding cell. A short time later deputies smelled smoke and thought it could be the result of an electrical fire. They began to evacuate the prisoners.

They discovered Koestler had set a roll of toilet paper on fire inside her holding cell. Video surveillance revealed Koestler had concealed a lighter in a roll of body fat in her buttocks. She retrieved it and then used the lighter to start the fire.

No one was injured. Koestler is charged with felony domestic battery, resisting arrest, and arson.

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