Photo by NASHUA POLICE Brandon Middaugh, age 27, of 40 Chestnut Street, Nashua

NASHUA – A homeless shelter resident allegedly punched an employee, then gathered cardboard from a dumpster, arranged it inside the shelter’s bus, and set it ablaze.

Brandon Middaugh, 27, who gives his address as 40 Chestnut St., the Southern New Hampshire Rescue Mission, was charged with felony arson and other offenses in connection with the incident, in which police said witnesses observed Middaugh “standing by the bus with his hands in his pockets, simply watching the bus burn,” according to their reports.

Arraigned in Hillsborough County Superior Court-South Wednesday, Middaugh was ordered held on preventive detention at Valley Street jail as his case proceeds.

Police said officers, who responded to the mission late Tuesday night with Nashua firefighters for a report of a vehicle fire, also allegedly found a fight in progress outside the mission. They identified Middaugh as one of the combatants.

Middaugh had allegedly punched the other man, an employee of the mission, in the face after he denied Middaugh entry to the mission, reports state.

In attempting to take Middaugh into custody, police said he pulled away from officers, then allegedly tried to escape their grasp to go after the employee.

That resulted in two counts of resisting arrest or detention, while he was charged with simple assault for allegedly punching the employee.

In addition to those charges and the arson count, Middaugh was also charged on a warrant for non-appearance in court, the reports state.

Once at police headquarters, Middaugh was booked on the charges, but the bail commissioner was unable to review the charges with him because he was allegedly “spitting from his cell,” according to the commissioner.

Middaugh’s alleged behavior grew worse with time, according to notations on his bail order.

Middaugh attempted “multiple times” to hang himself in his cell, the notes state, and he was said to be “banging on the cells, rambling, talking to himself.”

Meanwhile, police said officers and firefighters arrived to find the mission’s bus fully engulfed in flames, which had begun to spread to the rear of a multi-unit apartment building at 59-61 Walnut St.

Residents of the apartment building were evacuated as a precaution as firefighters fought the blaze, police said. While flames did some damage to the building’s exterior siding, residents were able to return once the flames were extinguished.

Police detectives investigating the incident “observed numerous pieces of partially charred cardboard” among the items that were removed from the bus, which was declared a total loss.

A state fire investigator called to the scene ruled the fire “was purposely caused,” police said.

In a brief post-arrest interview with detectives, Middaugh “denied any involvement in the fire, but did make admissions to being at the scene and witnessing the fire,” the reports state.

Middaugh also allegedly “made admissions to being intoxicated at the time,” but after a few minutes he “ended the interview” and requested a lawyer, police said.