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Last updated on Thursday, March 2, 2017
(BLOOMINGTON) - A Bloomington man was arrested after police say he set his own apartment on fire on Monday night.
Police say that 22-year-old Evan J. Schaffer told his girlfriend he wanted to get rid of their belongings and start fresh somewhere new.
A neighbor called 911 around 6 p.m. to report the fire at Knightridge Apartments in the 600 block of State Road 446.
The fire was contained to a bedroom of the apartment. A fire investigator found an overturned bucket of motor oil in the bedroom and found the oil had been thrown on the walls and floors before it was ignited.
Police arrested Schaffer on a felony charge of arson. He was booked into the Monroe County Jail at 8:17 p.m. Monday and is being held on a $10,500 bond.
Schaffer and his pregnant girlfriend were not home when the fire started. They told police that they went to McDonald's in Ellettsville for dinner.
According to Sgt. Dana Cole, the couple could have went to a McDonald's about two and a half miles from Knightridge Apartments, but instead traveled more than eight miles and took their dog with them.
During interview both Schaffer and his girlfriend told police there were struggling financially. Neither one is employed and were behind on their rent.
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