A 39-year-old Licking man faces arson charges after being accused of setting fire to his own Reed Road residence.
Charged is Isaias Bautista.
Texas County Sheriff’s Department officers were dispatched to the location Sunday at about 6:30 p.m. after Bautista’s wife reported a call from him: Come home or she would have nothing to come home to. Firefighters with the Licking and Raymondville departments also responded at about 6:50 p.m.
Upon arrival, a pair of sheriff’s department deputies observed smoke coming from the home’s windows and flames pouring from the living room. The officers subsequently pulled a naked man through a window to safety, who was later determined to be the suspect in setting the fire.
A fire marshal was called to the scene, and after an investigation determined that the blaze had begun in the living room, and was likely started by a butane fireplace torch. The man’s wife told authorities Bautista had been drinking heavily and had become angry after she took his truck keys when she left the house.
Deputies arrested Bautista Sunday night and took him to the Texas County Jail for a 24-hour hold period pending formal charges, which were filed Monday. He is held on $500,000 bond.