Affidavit: Fight over apartment prompted woman to set Manitou fire

Court documents say a fire that destroyed a Manitou Springs apartment building was set by a woman who was fighting with her ex-boyfriend over an apartment in the converted house.

The fire started in the 500 block of Caon Ave. at around 11:30 a.m. on July 4.

Police say Nicchi Ladawn See, 46, admitted to starting the fire. She faces numerous charges for arson, attempted manslaughter, attempted assault, criminal mischief and animal cruelty.

An arrest affidavit says two women saw another woman, who police believe was See, piling wicker furniture up on the porch of the home, spraying it with lighter fluid and setting it on fire. The witnesses said the woman sprayed additional lighter fluid on the fire to make the flames grow faster.

The affidavit says that the El Paso County Sheriff’s Office Dispatch Center received a call a short time later from a woman who said she was with another woman who asked her to call 911 because she had just set her house on fire.

The court papers say that when a detective responded to that call, he came upon a woman, identified as See, sitting on the ground crying. It says that when the detective asked her what was going on, See sobbed and replied “I set my house on fire.”

The affidavit says that during the course of the investigation, police learned that See and her ex-boyfriend were fighting over who had rights to one of the units in the building. It says that while See was out of state for a few weeks, her ex moved a new woman into the apartment.

The affidavit says that See demanded that her ex and anyone else who he had moved into the apartment move out and that police believe she set the fire to punish her ex and others who refused to leave the apartment.

See’s next court date is scheduled for July 13.