THE Spanish Town police were last night searching for a 21-year-old man who is accused of chopping his mother in the face before setting fire to the family house during a dispute yesterday over the $500 he contributed towards acquiring a cable box.

Residents of 83 St John’s Road – a narrow, dirt lane in the old capital of Spanish Town, St Catherine – expressed surprise at the incident, which occurred around 9:30 in the morning. They said the alleged perpetrator was a ‘usually quiet’ person.

According to the residents, the dispute between the unemployed man and his mother was triggered by his demand for the return of the $500.

The man, whose schooling is reportedly being financed by his mother, a higgler, allegedly used a machete to chop her to the face, then set their two-bedroom wooden structure – which they shared with five other family members – ablaze while the injured woman waited on transportation to the Spanish Town Hospital.

A resident told the Observer that the man bolted the doors to the house to prevent anyone from attempting to extinguish the blaze.

“He walked down the road calm, calm, calm like nothing happened,” said one female resident in apparent disgust.

Inside the home, remnants of what used to be furniture could be seen, as residents only managed pull a few items of clothing and two mattresses from the path of the fast-moving blaze.

“You know how much Lorna struggle to build this house?” asked a woman in reference to the injured mother.

The house was constructed just last year, according to another resident who described the alleged offender as a “wicked boy”.