By Justin Story, Bowling Green Daily News

BOWLING GREEN — A bed was set on fire in a Bowling Green motel room Tuesday afternoon, and police arrested a man suspected of intentionally setting the fire.

Jesse W. Lowery, 31, was arrested by the Bowling Green Police Department on charges of first-degree arson and first-degree criminal mischief.

Lowery is accused of setting a bed on fire in a room in which he was staying at America’s Best Value Inn, 3139 Scottsville Road.

Lowery appeared Wednesday morning in Warren District Court for arraignment.

Warren District Judge Kim Geoghegan entered a not guilty plea on Lowery’s behalf and appointed a public defender to represent him.

The incident is said to have occurred around 4:38 p.m. Tuesday, according to court records.

The Bowling Green Fire Department was on the scene responding to the fire when a firefighter approached a city police department officer to report that Lowery had been staying in the room where the fire happened and was seen walking away from the area.

Police saw Lowery walking near Arby’s on Scottsville Road and attempted to speak with him, getting him to confirm his identity and say that he was staying in the room.

Lowery reportedly denied any knowledge of what was happening at the motel until a BGFD investigator joined city police, at which point Lowery said he was in the bathroom and the bed had caught on fire, an arrest citation said.

“Lowery then changed his statement and advised he was smoking a cigarette and the bed caught on fire,” Lowery’s arrest citation said.

When a BGFD investigator asked Lowery for more details about what happened, Lowery reportedly said he lit the bed on fire with a lighter and that he left the scene because the owner of the business asked him to go to his brother’s home, the citation said.

Police spoke with someone near the room where Lowery was staying who reported that he saw smoke coming from an air conditioning unit and then from inside Lowery’s room, went in and grabbed the mattress and threw it outside, records show.

The witness said Lowery made no attempt to put out the fire and had not told anyone about the fire, according to the arrest citation.

“There was significant damage to the room walls and ceiling of the room,” the citation said. “The mattress was burnt and unusable.”

Lowery was taken to BGPD headquarters, where he reportedly confessed to starting the fire and said he “did not have a particular reason” for doing so.

Lowery is in Warren County Regional Jail under a $25,000 cash bond and is due back in court Oct. 23 for a preliminary hearing.