Phillip Green Of Decatur Charged With Setting Houseguest On Fire

A Decatur, Illinois man was arrested late last week for allegedly dousing a houseguest in gasoline and setting him on fire.

Phillip Green is charged with heinous battery in the case, and is being held on a $250,000 bond, according to the Associated Press.

CBS St. Louis reports that witnesses saw Green arguing with the 52-year-old victim at his home. The two men apparently struggled over a gas can in the course of the argument; the older man then fell down, and, according to witnesses, Green dumped gasoline on him, struck his lighter, and lit him on fire.

Green tells a different story, according to the Decatur Herald-Review. He claims he was arguing with the victim because he refused to leave Green's home. The victim, he says, then walked away with a gas can in hand. When he came back, he asked Green to light his cigarette, and in so doing, the man caught fire.

When asked why he smelled like gasoline, Green had no response, the Herald-Review writes.

The victim reportedly has second- and third-degree burns over 30 percent of his body. After receiving immediate care Thursday night, he was airlifted to Memorial Medical Center in Springfield for treatment in that hospital's burn unit.