Man charged with arson, battery in domestic violence case

A northern Idaho man has been charged with arson and aggravated battery after prosecutors say he doused his girlfriend with kerosene and lit her on fire.

The Coeur d’Alene Press reports 38-year-old Dustin R. Hieronymus of Rathdrum was bound over to 1st District Court after a preliminary hearing on Tuesday.

Prosecutors say Hieronymus and his girlfriend began arguing on Valentine’s Day because she wanted to keep singing at a karaoke bar but he wanted to leave. Prosecutors say the argument continued at the couple’s home and that when the woman went to lie down, Hieronymus doused her head and upper body with kerosene and set it aflame. The woman sustained burns to her arms, face and hair.

Defense attorney Zachary Jones told the court he took issue with having three separate charges filed against the client in what he said was a single fluid incident.