An Alabama man was arrested Monday after police say he attacked his mother with a hammer and then set their apartment on fire.

Florence police say Malcolm Allen, 39, was charged with arson and second-degree domestic violence after police were called to an apartment on Darby Drive.

Investigators said Allen attacked his mother with a hammer. As officers arrived, the victim escaped and barricaded himself in the apartment. Officers then said they started seeing flames and smoke inside the apartment.

Officers evacuated people in neighboring apartments and eventually managed to pull Allen through a window before firefighters responded and extinguished the fire.

Allen was being held without a bond.