A Mountain Grove woman is being held without bond after police say she returned to an ex‑boyfriend’s residence early Sunday morning and set fires in both a vehicle and the home.
According to a probable cause statement, officers first responded to the residence around 10:47 p.m. Saturday after the reporting party said Melissa Prestage was intoxicated and trying to get inside. Officers located Prestage hiding in nearby bushes, issued a trespass warning, and released her from the scene at 11:12 p.m.
Just after midnight, officers were called back after the resident reported his house was on fire. Police arrived to find a truck in the driveway with a burning shirt on the floorboard and heavy smoke coming from inside the home. A window had been opened and the back of a couch was burned.
During a later search, officers located Prestage hiding behind houses on Harker Street. She was arrested, and after being read her Miranda rights, investigators say she admitted to setting the fires, stating she lit a shirt on fire, placed it inside the truck, and then set another burning shirt on the couch inside the residence.
Prestage is charged with first‑degree arson, second‑degree arson, and first‑degree burglary. She is being held without bond at the Wright County Detention Center.
