LAWRENCE When yelling, banging, and spitting at surveillance cameras didn't get a Lawrence jail prisoner the attention of police, he set his shirt on fire inside his jail cell.
Security video shows Xavier Pagan hang his shirt against the bars of his cell, reach into his waistband, produce a lighter, and set the shirt on fire.
The shirt went up in flames, filling his cell with smoke and sounding the police station's fire alarms.
It happened around 7:15 Saturday morning Dec 6, about 5 hours after Pagan was arrested on motor vehicle charges. Police say he had been very disruptive in his jail cell throughout the night.
Police say Pagan, of Methuen, was searched upon his arrest, but not strip-searched – which is against the law without probable cause.
He had no cigarettes, so police say there was no reason to suspect he had a lighter concealed under his clothes.
Nothing else in the jail cell caught fire. Pagan did appear to be having trouble breathing after the fire and was checked out at the hospital.
He was then returned to the Lawrence Police Station jail and placed on suicide watch.
Prisoners had to be relocated to another part of the police station until the smoke cleared.
