CALDWELL, Idaho — A Caldwell man is facing multiple charges after police say he tried to burn his girlfriend's trailer down in the early hours of New Year's Day.
T.J. Grove, 34, is charged with felony first-degree arson and misdemeanors for malicious injury to property and using a telephone to intimidate or threaten.
Caldwell Police were called out to the home after the victim's daughter called 911, telling dispatchers that Grove had punched holes in the walls and was setting fires around the trailer.
By the time police and firefighters arrived, Grove was gone, according to court documents.
The victim's son told police that Grove and others had been drinking and hanging out at the home when the suspect got angry at him for playing music on the radio and challenged him to a fight.
Grove's girlfriend also told investigators that Grove was intoxicated and trying to start a fight, according to court documents. The woman said she believed the suspect was threatening her children, so she left with them to another house.
After everyone left the trailer, according to Caldwell Police, Grove sent multiple text messages and voicemails to his girlfriend, telling her he was burning her house down.
"Your house is on fire," Grove said in one of the voicemails obtained by police.
Several people went back to the home to check on it, and alerted police after seeing flames.
Firefighters were able to extinguish the fire and blow the smoke out of the trailer. A Caldwell Police officer noted seeing a burned spot on the living room floor, a burned stove, and several walls with holes punched in them.
As police were driving away from the trailer, an officer spotted Grove walk out of a field and into the middle of the road.
Officers described Grove as "very intoxicated." The suspect denied setting fire to the trailer, telling officers he had left hours ago to sleep in the field because someone at the house threatened him.
Grove was arrested and taken to the Canyon County Jail, where he tried to fight jail deputies and was placed in a holding cell, according to court documents.
The suspect is currently held on a $250,000 bond, and is set for a preliminary hearing Jan. 11. First-degree arson is punishable by up to 25 years in prison.
