Grand jury indicts man in Clyde arson case

FREMONT – A grand jury indicted a Clyde man Wednesday on charges of setting his house on fire in an attempt to kill himself last month.

Andrew Ruh, 24, was charged with one felony count each of aggravated arson and arson.

The court issued a summons for Ruh to attend his arraignment at 2:30 p.m. May 4 in Sandusky County Common Pleas Court.

Authorities allege Ruh on March 7 used lighter fluid to set fire to the mattress in the only bedroom at the small home he rented at 221 Norris Drive.

He made a suicidal comment on Facebook about 45 minutes before a family member saw it and went to the home check on him, according to a Clyde police report. She then saw smoke and called police.

He also texted a woman and told her he had set fire to the house, taken all of his medication and was saying goodbye, according to the report.

Ruh’s attorney, Dan Brudzinski of Fremont, was not available for comment.

When the family member arrived at the home, Ruh was not there, according to the report. Police tracked him through his cell phone’s global positioning system to Columbus, where he was arrested last month.

He was out of jail after posting bail before the grand jury indicted him.

After the fire was extinguished, Clyde police found a receipt in a jacket at the home that showed someone bought two containers of lighter fluid and an ax at Rural King in Fremont earlier that day, the report shows.

Police recovered the ax, which appeared to have been used to smash a TV in the home, according to the report.

mksmith@gannett.com

419-334-1044

Twitter: @kristinasmithNM