EVERETT – Police arrested a man suspected of starting a fire and threatening a tenant at a house in the 3400 block of Lombard Avenue early this morning. Police continue to piece together the unusual circumstances that led to the man’s arrest.

Firefighters first responded to the address for a fire in a shed behind the house about 5:30 a.m. Witnesses reported to police that a man kicked in a door to the house, threatened a tenant with a knife and started a small fire, Sgt. Cheryl Braley said. The man apparently lives on the property. The house was not seriously damaged in the fire.

Braley would not say if the man was responsible for setting the shed on fire. The shed was gutted and an adjacent garage was charred.

Around 7 a.m., police found the man at Everett and Wetmore avenues. Officers chased after the man, who was armed with two knives. He resisted arrest and was subdued, Braley said. She would not say how the man was subdued.

Medics treated the man as he slumped against a building next to the former Key Bank. He later was placed in an ambulance. Braley didn’t know what injuries he sustained in the struggle.