Man charged with arson in Iowa City

A 21-year-old man faces an arson charge after police said he started a fire at an apartment complex.

Police said Cary L. Smith lit the coat of a woman who had a restraining order against him on fire outside her door.

Around 10:40 p.m. Sunday, police said a woman heard noises outside her apartment and saw light flickering around the door before seeing Smith, a transient, running away.

When the woman opened the door she found a coat she had worn earlier in the day on fire on the floor.

The woman was able to use a fire extinguisher to put out the flames, police said. The building also houses eight other units.

Sgt. Denise Brotherton said officers responded to the woman's apartment around 1 p.m. on a call saying Smith violated a no-contact order when kicked on her door. They returned around 7:30 p.m. when the woman came home to find Smith sitting in front of her door, Brotherton said.

Officers tracked a set of footprints that matched the footprints from the scene and found Smith sitting in the hallway of 2515 Bartelt Rd. Brotherton said Smith's shoe prints matched the tracks in the snow and the markings on the woman's door.

Smith admitted to police to being in the woman's apartment complex, but confessed to nothing else, she said.

Smith was charged with first-degree arson, a Class B felony, violating a protective order and had other outstanding warrants.

He remains in the Johnson County Jail Monday on a $108,500 cash-only bond.

Smith was charged by police on Aug. 19, 2009 for domestic abuse assault where police said he went to the woman's residence and punched her in the side of the head after he she told him to leave and her refused.