Billings Man Charged With Arson for Apartment Fire

BILLINGS, Mont. (AP) — A Billings man is charged with felony arson after a fire was set in his apartment in an apparent effort to be returned to the state's mental health hospital.

The Associated Press reports 67-year-old Larry Keith Johnson was charged Monday with felony arson for the July 31 fire. He remains jailed on $50,000 bail.

Court records say Johnson called 911 at about 10:15 a.m. and reported he had set a bunch of clothes on fire in his apartment. Charging documents say he told police he didn't want to live in his apartment anymore and wanted to go back to the Montana State Hospital in Warm Springs.

Prosecutors say an open can of lighter fluid and a lighter were found in the apartment.