By Shavonne Potts
Salisbury Post
A Salisbury man was arrested after authorities say he tried to set fire to his home with his girlfriend still inside.
The Salisbury Police Department charged Tommy L. Swink, 58, of 290 Dollie Circle, with attempted murder and first-degree arson.
Department reports indicate the situation began as a domestic issue last Thursday that somehow escalated.
Swink and his girlfriend, Denise A. Rogers, had been arguing Thursday morning and afterward she went into the bedroom, a report said.
She tried to get him to lie down to sleep. He instead told her he was going to ěburn the trailer down with you in it,î the report said.
Swink closed the door and, moments later, the girlfriend smelled smoke coming from the living room area.
When she opened the door, she saw flames in the middle of the living room.
According to a department report, investigators found a bottle of lighter fluid on the kitchen table and the smoke detector on the floor nearby.
Rogers was able to get out of the mobile home with no injuries.
Police found Swink a short time later behind an outbuilding on the property. He had a cigarette lighter in his pocket, police said.
Swink, placed under $35,000 bond, has since been released from the Rowan County Detention Center.
Contact Shavonne Potts at 704-797-4253 or spotts@salisburypost.com.