A Hopkinsville man and a McCracken County man were charged with arson and criminal trespassing after an abandoned houseboat was found on fire in Paducah Sunday morning.
Paducah police report an officer on routine patrol saw flames coming from the cabin of an abandoned houseboat docked at Paducah’s transient boat dock on North Water Street around 1:15 a.m.
54-year old Randy Roy of Hopkinsville and 70-year old William Jenkins of Paducah were found onboard the boat and were taken back to the riverbank for questioning where police say they admitted to starting the fire to rid the boat of fleas and bedbugs.
According to police, neither man had permission to be on the boat.
Both men were booked into the McCracken County Jail charged with third-degree arson and first-degree criminal trespass. Roy is facing an additional charge of alcohol intoxication.
According to police, the boat’s owner abandoned it at the dock around the end of November 2019 and the City of Paducah has been in the process of acquiring the title to the boat in order to auction it.
