A 28-year-old man was arrested early Thursday, Aug. 4, after he allegedly tried to break into a Lake Samish home by burning a hole through a window screen.

About 1 a.m., the owner of a house in the 1200 block of Roy Road heard noises coming from a window, so he grabbed a gun, said Whatcom County Undersheriff Jeff Parks.

When he went to the window, he confronted a man, Justin Donald Spencer, who was trying to burn a hole in the screen - apparently so he could get inside, Parks said. Spencer fled down a stairway. He was later tracked by a police dog and found hiding in a nearby ditch.

Nothing was stolen and nobody was injured.

Because the home was occupied, Spencer was booked into Whatcom County Jail on suspicion of first-degree arson. He also was booked for attempted residential burglary and an unrelated charge of failure to appear for supplying liquor to minors.