Tuesday, December 26, 2023–12:36 p.m.
-Rome Police Department report-
A homeless man is facing charges of criminal trespass and reckless conduct after starting a fire under the bridge on East Second Avenue near Glen Milner Boulevard.
According to a Rome Police Department report:
An officer responded to the scene and could smell smoke.
He then noticed a large fire was burning very close to the concrete of the bridge.
A man, later identified as 53-year-old Jerry Neal Bridges, told the officer he started the fire to dry off his clothes, and that was also why he was naked.
The Rome Fire Department was called to extinguish the fire.
