Standoff suspect accused of plotting to burn down woman’s home

Court documents on Monday revealed a possible motive after Columbia police arrested a suspect for arson following a seven-hour standoff over the weekend.

Mehrdad Fotoohighiam barricaded himself inside the home off Carrick Court and refused to communicate with authorities Saturday night.

On Friday the Boone County prosecutor’s office issued a warrant for Fotoohighiam’s arrest for the arson case from last December. Firefighters found a woman who was bleeding with second-degree burns, after escaping a home off Rock Quarry Road.

She accused Fotoohighiam of setting her home on fire because of a feud over not letting him buy her property.

Columbia’s SWAT team was called in around 2 Sunday morning, and police said Fotoohighiam surrendered just before 7 a.m. No one was injured in the incident.

Employees of Footoohighiam say he approached them and offered to pay $500 to set the woman’s mobile home on fire.

“These kind of cases are serious cases and present not only injury risk to the people in the house, but also injury risk to the firefighters who put their lives on the line to respond,” said Boone County Assistant Prosecutor, Roger Johnson.