Inset: Christopher Michael Peden (Image courtesy of Allen County Sheriff’s Department). Background: Exterior view of the Allen County Jail in Fort Wayne, Indiana (Image: Google Maps).
Authorities in Indiana recently apprehended a man on charges related to setting a fire using his own genitalia, as per police in the Hoosier State.
The individual in question, 36-year-old Christopher Michael Peden, faces a felony arson charge, according to the Allen County Prosecutor’s Office.
This peculiar event took place on May 6 at a garage detached from the main property, which belongs to Peden’s family in Fort Wayne.
On that particular day, the Fort Wayne Fire Department was called out to extinguish a blaze in a garage, while simultaneously, the Fort Wayne Police Department responded to a report of a stabbing, according to court documents accessed by the Indianapolis-based NBC affiliate WTHR, as well as Fort Wayne’s ABC, NBC, and MyNetworkTV affiliate WPTA, and Louisville’s Fox affiliate WDRB.
When officers arrived, Peden allegedly told police he had been stabbed while in downtown Fort Wayne after being threatened the day before, according to law enforcement.
At the scene of the fire — where Peden’s mother and brother lived in a nearby house — firefighters spoke with the family, authorities said.
Peden’s brother told investigators a neighbor woke him up to alert him to the fire, court documents say. The defendant’s brother went on to say that the garage had no electrical power and that the only source of fuel was a small can of gas used for the lawnmower.
Investigators quickly suspected the alleged stabbing victim was the same person responsible for the garage fire, court documents say.
After police escorted Peden to a nearby hospital, the man confessed to being untruthful with responding officers at the scene of the stabbing and said he wanted to set the record straight about what actually happened, according to charging documents.
The defendant allegedly went on to say that around 2 a.m., he went into the garage with a kitchen knife, cut off his genitals, put the dismembered flesh on the floor, poured gasoline on his severed penis, and set the garage ablaze. Peden said he then left the garage and walked until he ran into police, according to court documents.
Inside the garage, a fire investigator found a kitchen knife, a red plastic gasoline container, and four lighters. Law enforcement did not mention whether the man’s genitals were found.
During an initial hearing on July 2, Peden’s bond was set at $10,000. He posted a surety bond and was released on July 7. The alleged self-castrating man is next slated to appear in court on July 13 and Aug. 31.