Man arrested on arson charge after police say they found dousing gas around house

COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) – Columbus police said they arrived at a West Side home just as a man was preparing to set it on fire while a woman was inside.

According to court records, Ton-Sha Cheese, 37, was arrested and charged with aggravated arson two days after police said he doused the inside and outside of a Westland home.

Officers arrived about 10:50 p.m. Monday to the 6200 block of Bellinger Drive after receiving a 911 call from a woman hiding in a locked upstairs bedroom. When they got there, police said they immediately smelled an overwhelming odor of gasoline outside of the home.

Police said they saw Cheese standing in the garage holding a red gasoline can. While officers were taking the victim out of the bedroom to a safe area, Cheese reportedly ran into the home and exited through the back door into a wooded area.

Columbus Division of Fire personnel arrived and shut off all power and utilities due to the danger of a possible vapor explosion. Doors and windows were opened to ventilate the home, and K-9 units worked the scene and detected multiple ignitable liquids throughout the area.

Cheese was apprehended two days later and charged with aggravated arson. He is also facing misdemeanor charges of menacing and domestic violence stemming from an earlier incident.

A Franklin County Municipal Court judge issued Cheese a $50,000 bond for his misdemeanor charges and $500,000 for the arson charge. He is next scheduled for a preliminary hearing on Aug. 9.