Casa Maria’s co-owner charged in Bootheel arson case booked into, released from Cape Girardeau County Jail
CAPE GIRARDEAU COUNTY, Mo. (KMIZ)
A co-owner of a Columbia restaurant who was wanted for second-degree arson has been booked into -- and since released from -- the Cape Girardeau County Jail.
Crystal Umfress, 42, co-owner of Casa Maria's Mexican Cantina, is facing arson charges for her alleged role in starting a fire at a restaurant this summer in the Bootheel town of Kennett in Duklin County. Her bond is set at $65,000. The details of her arrest were not immediately available.
She was booked into the jail at 12:34 p.m. Thursday, according to online jail records. She was released from the jail at 6:24 p.m., according to online jail records.
An order on Thursday from Judge John Spielman states, according to Casenet, “ANY BOND POSTED IN ABOVE MENTIONED CASE, SHALL BE POSTED IN OPEN COURT OF DIVISION II CIRCUIT COURT OF DUNKLIN COUNTY, MO.”
Court documents filed in July state that Umfress contacted a witness asking her to burn a business in Kennett. A fire later broke out at Lupita's Mexican Restaurant.
Umfress allegedly hired Kerry Raymond to set the fire. A witness told Kennett police that Umfress contacted her to burn the business when Raymond was with her, according to a probable cause statement.
Her lawyer tried to negotiate her surrender in Boone County. Umfress' lawyer, Daniel T. Moore, previously filed a motion to amend her $65,000 cash-only bond conditions Tuesday. He is asking the court to amend Umfress' bond conditions by allowing the removal of electronic monitoring and the curfew.
Moore argued that Umfress would have to travel to Cape Girardeau, Missouri, more than a three-hour drive from Columbia, to have an ankle monitor put on. However, Umfress' obligations as the co-owner of Casa Maria's and the need to prepare for her husband's funeral make that impractical, he wrote.
Raymond's bond was set at $65,000 and an arraignment is set for 10 a.m. Wednesday. He was charged with second-degree arson.
