A St. Paul man is accused of setting a fire inside a residential apartment building in Roseville the day after Christmas last year.
Marcus Demond Carter, 41, had been staying in the building at the time with a woman he was having a romantic relationship with, according to charges filed Friday in Ramsey County District Court.
The woman left over the holidays to visit family in Iowa, but let Carter stay in her unit so that he wouldn’t have to go to the Union Gospel Mission, she told police, according to the criminal charges. Carter had recently been released from prison and didn’t have his own place.
Just before she left, she said the two got into an argument because Carter believed she was cheating on him.
After she left, Roseville fire and police departments were sent to the building on the 500 block of Lovell Avenue on a report of a fire.
When they arrived, they saw smoke billowing out of one of the roof vents, and assisted the tenants residing in the building’s eight other units out of the building.
When firefighters entered unit 3 — Carter’s girlfriend’s apartment — they encountered a large amount of smoke and fire damage.
Three televisions also appeared to be missing, as well as a smoke detector, and there were holes and paint “strewn everywhere in a manner that suggested vandalism,” charges say.
Investigators determined the fire had been started in that unit, and it was set intentionally.
Carter’s girlfriend said she owned three televisions and that no-one other than Carter had access to her apartment while she was away.
Carter was charged via warrant Friday with one count of first-degree arson.
No attorney was listed for him in court records.
Carter’s criminal record includes second and fourth-degree assault, as well as domestic assault.