Casa Maria’s owner accused of arson arrested, booked into Butler County Jail
COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)
An owner of a south Columbia Mexican restaurant accused of arson has been arrested.
Crystal Umfress, of Columbia, was arrested by investigators and is being held at the Butler County Jail. A failure-to-appear warrant was issued on Tuesday in a felony case where she is charged with second-degree arson. A $100,000 bond was set.
That case was moved from Dunklin County to Butler County in January. A jury trial was scheduled for Feb. 3, 2025. She is accused of hiring another person to burn down Lupita’s Mexican Restaurant in Kennett.
A case review is scheduled for 8:30 a.m. Tuesday at the Butler County Courthouse.
Kerry Raymond was allegedly hired by Umfress to set fire to Lupita's Mexican Restaurant, court documents say. Raymond was also charged with second-degree arson and his case was moved to Stoddard County in November 2023. A case review is scheduled Feb. 13, 2025.
Umfress was also charged in Dunklin County last week with two counts of filing false documents and three counts of forgery. A no-bond warrant was issued last week in that case.
In the forgery case, she was accused of impersonating state officials in emails and accused other Mexican restaurants of crimes. Court documents say Umfress asked for information about the liquor licenses of “various” restaurants and falsely claimed hearings were scheduled for an investigation.
She also allegedly tried to pose as the owners of other Mexican restaurants and asked for officials to revoke their liquor licenses, court documents say. Casa Maria’s Mexican Cantina in Columbia had its liquor license suspended this summer after the Division of Alcohol and Tobacco Control claimed a name was forged on the license and Umfress’ felony charge was not disclosed.
