March 3, 2022- 7:33 p.m.
A 28-year-old St. Paul woman is accused of setting an apartment on fire during a domestic argument.
On Friday, Daniesha Marie Savage-McComb was charged with two felony counts of first-degree arson in connection to the Thursday incident.
According to the criminal complaint, St. Paul police officers were dispatched in the early afternoon to a domestic incident at a residential apartment on the 100 block of Larpenteur Avenue.
Upon arrival, officers were informed by the apartment occupant that Savage-McComb pushed him during an argument about her abusive behavior, and she later set the apartment on fire, the complaint said.
Officers then arrested Savage-McComb, who later told police in a post-Miranda interview that she had been struggling with mental health and managing her medications. She admitted to pushing the victim and lighting a disposable face mask on fire. She said she put the burning mask on a bed and splashed it with alcohol, spreading the fire, the complaint said.
Savage-McComb said she tried unsuccessfully to extinguish the fire and needed to be helped off the deck by a neighbor.
The fire resulted in the apartment building being “badly damaged and condemned,” and displaced 40 residents from their homes, according to the complaint.
If convicted, Savage-McComb could face up to 20 years in prison.
