PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) — A man who tossed gasoline onto a father and into his apartment before setting it on fire was sentenced to 10 years in prison Monday.
Joshua Bigsby was indicted in November 2015 for the September incident that seriously burned one man and his wife, who managed to grab their children and escape the inferno.
At his sentencing, Bigsby took responsibility.
“The actions that were taken on that day were above and beyond what needed to happen,” Bigsby said at his sentencing. “I’m prepared to move on with my life and move forward.”
Judge Eric J. Bloch reminded Bigsby of how his actions affected so many people’s lives.
“We know that when people do that and make the choice to drink to excess the inentivable result is poor decision making,” Judge Bloch said.
Bigsby was facing charges of attempted murder, but those charges were dropped in part of a plea deal.
“For somebody with little to no criminal history this is quite a significant punishment to receive,” the judge told Bigsby.The case
The investigation began September 5, 2015 when police and fire crews arrived at a fire in from the Anderson Villa Apartment complex in the 15800 block of SE Division.
The victim, Michael Alston Jr., sustained burns to his forearms, hands, chest and back. A woman inside the apartment had to jump out of a second story window in order to escape the flames, according to court documents.
Investigators said the fire was started after a fight between Bigsby and the people living in the apartment unit.
Alston and his fiance met Bigsby and his group while out at a bar that night. Alston invited them all to his apartment after the bar closed, documents show.
According to an affidavit, a fourth woman in the group bought cocaine from an unidentified woman back at the apartment. After that, a fight broke out.
Court documents show Bigsby, Williams and Smith were asked to leave. After a short time, the 3 allegedly returned with a container filled with gasoline. Bigsby poured the gas on Alston at the front door.
Alston, his fiance’ and their children have since moved from Portland.