Man accused of causing two small explosions in Columbia residence

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

Boone County prosecutors filed an arson charge against a Columbia man accused of setting off two explosions on Monday.

Columbia police were called to a residence in the 1400 block of Barnwood Drive around 11 a.m. for a reported arson. Officers said 19-year-old Gabriel Green was arrested on suspicion of first-degree arson and fourth-degree assault.

Police alleged in court documents that Green was upset with two caretakers and placed two fire extinguishers on a stovetop and turned the burners on high heat.

Green's probable cause statement said he wouldn't let the caretakers into the kitchen after a fire started on the stove. The court documents said one fire extinguisher later exploded and caused the flames to get bigger.

Police say Green sprayed lighter fluid on the fire to make flames grow larger. The second extinguisher exploded and sent shrapnel through the kitchen ceiling, according to the statement.

Green told officers he tried to kill himself, court documents said. It's unclear if anyone was hurt in the fire or how much damage the incident caused.

The court documents said Green was arrested in March for an alleged assault on University of Missouri Psychiatric Center staff members.

According to online jail records, he was in jail custody on a $100,000 cash bond Tuesday. Online court records say Green cannot have contact with his caretakers or be at the residence on Barnwood if he bonds out of jail.