PIKEVILLE, Ky. — A Pike County man was arrested Friday after police say he confessed to setting his apartment building on fire.

Police were called to the fire at a building containing three apartments on the Left Fork of Island Creek Friday morning. Once there, witnesses told them they believed 28-year-old William Anthony Hamilton had set the fire and thought that he was still behind the building.

When police went around to the back of the building, they found Hamilton and immediately detained him. The police report notes Hamilton begged officers to let him stay there and watch the building burn.

When asked about the fire, Hamilton allegedly told police he was feeling suicidal and decided to set the building on fire. The police report says he made those statements after being read his rights and they were recorded on both bodycam and police car cameras.

Hamilton is now charged with first-degree arson, a Class A felony punishable by either 20-to-50 years or life in prison.