Man charged with arson after setting house on fire following argument

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

A Columbia man was charged with arson and other felonies after he allegedly set a house on fire with a propane torch on Monday.

Robert Merritt, 51, was charged on Tuesday with second-degree arson and three counts of third-degree domestic assault. He is being held at the Boone County Jail without bond. A court date has not been set.

According to the probable cause statement, Merritt and a victim were involved in an argument for multiple days and Merritt allegedly threatened to burn down the house several times. Police wrote that Merritt allegedly “warned everyone inside the house that he was going to set it on fire multiple times.”

The argument supposedly started around the state of the home, the statement says.