Wichita Falls, Texas Man Sentenced After He Almost Burned Down His Motel Room

Last September, Michael Culipher checked into the Catalina Motel, right off of East Scott Street in Wichita Falls.   Unfortunately, he didn’t enjoy his stay.  After checking into his motel room, Culipher soon discovered bed bugs in the sheets.  He then contacted the motel’s management to complain about the bed bugs in his room.  He obviously wasn’t satisfied with their response, and proceeded to light the motel's mattress on fire in a fit of rage.

When the Wichita Falls fire department arrived, they found smoke coming from Culipher’s motel room, and proceeded to extinguish the flames.  According to the Times Record News, Culipher admitted to the fire marshal that he set the mattress on fire, because the motel’s management wouldn’t do anything about the bed bugs in the room.  He also added that he used lighter fluid to start the fire.

After the fire marshal arrived, Culipher was immediately arrested, and charged with arson involving a habitation, which is a first-degree felony, in the state of Texas.   After pleading guilty to the charges this week, Culipher was sentenced to 5 years’ probation by 78^th District Judge Meredith Kennedy.

Michael Culipher is lucky that the Wichita Falls fire department was able to extinguish the flames, before they spread across the building to other motel rooms.  This fire could have been much worse. Thankfully, the firemen arrived on the scene before too much damage was done to the room.