Man douses homeowner in wheelchair in lighter fluid, then sets porch on fire, feds say

A man will go to prison after being accused of the 2022 assault of an Oklahoma man in a wheelchair, federal officials said.

Martin Andrew Breshears, of Tulsa and a member of the Muscogee Creek Nation, is accused of assaulting a man in a wheelchair on two separate occasions, according to a March 25 news release by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Oklahoma.

The first assault on June 27, 2022, was with a brick, officials said.

During the second assault the next day, Breshears hit the victim with a lead pipe, prosecutors said.

Then he doused the man and the home’s porch in lighter fluid and set the porch on fire, officials said.

Tulsa police officers responded to the home, and Breshears told police the man “would not give him his things back,” according to the criminal complaint.

Officers told Breshears he would have faced homicide charges if the victim had died from the fire, to which he responded “I know, I’m not messing around,” the document said.

A witness saw the assault and was able to “put out the fire, saving the victim,” prosecutors said.

Breshears’ lawyer declined to comment when McClatchy News reached out on March 26.

Breshears was charged with assault with intent to commit murder in Indian Country and sentenced to 10 years in prison followed by three years of supervised release, officials said.

This story was originally published March 26, 2024 at 2:30 PM with the headline "Man douses homeowner in wheelchair in lighter fluid, then sets porch on fire, feds say."