A 54-year-old Ceres man was arrested Sunday morning after he allegedly set a tire on fire in the northwest lot at Mitchell and Roeding roads.

Somebody called 9-1-1 at 8:21 a.m. to report the fire and that the suspect, wearing red shirt and red pants, was walking toward Roeding Heights Park. While police were responding, another person called to say the same man was knocking on the door of a residence in the 3200 block of Vernal.

Officer Vince Hooper arrived and located Christopher Hunter, 54, of Ceres. Hunter told the officer that he was burning phone books and accidentally caught a tire on fire. He said he walked away when the fire department arrived because he did not want to go to jail.

Hunter was arrested and booked in the County Hail for arson and violating his probation.