Man faces multiple charges after breaking into NC State apartment, starting fire: Court files
Jan 06, 2025
RALEIGH, N.C. (WNCN) — A man is in custody in Wake County overnight Monday after burglarizing and setting fire to an apartment at North Carolina State University, according to court documents filed early Monday morning.
According to the City-County Bureau of Identification, 33-year-old Zachary Kyle Watkins was arrested around 1:45 a.m. after a foot chase with NC State officers near the intersection of Gorman Street and Sullivan Drive.
Officers said in the magistrate's order that Watkins broke into Chowan Hall A on Ligon Street in the King Village apartment complex while two people were sleeping in their apartment. Officers then said Watkins set fire to a "permanently affixed sink" inside the apartment.
When officers attempted to arrest Watkins, he began physically fighting officers, kicking two and throwing a fire extinguisher at another. Watkins grabbed another officer by the neck. According to the magistrate's order, all four officers were injured as a result of the fight.
At the time of the arrest, court documents show that Watkins was also in possession of a razor blade switchblade, leading to a weapons charge.
According to court documents, Watkins currently faces these nine charges:
One count of assault with a deadly weapon upon a campus police officer
Three counts of assault with physical injury on a law enforcement officers
One count of first degree burglary
One count of burning of a school house
Two counts of resisting public officers
One count of possessing a weapon on educational property (not gun)
Watkins remains in Wake County custody with no authorized bond.
CBS 17 reached to the NC State University for comments on this incident.