SAN ANTONIO – A landlord was arrested for allegedly torching an East Side home because she accused her tenants of not paying rent, according to court records.
Bexar County Jail records show that Elizabeth Flores Romo, 35, was taken into custody overnight and charged with arson of a habitation/place of assembly.
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The incident started at 4:15 p.m. on Thursday at a home in the 1000 block of Lamar Street, not far from North New Braunfels Avenue in Dignowity Hill.
A tenant in an apartment unit inside the house called the police because he said Romo, his landlord, broke into his unit and set fire to his door frame, according to an arrest warrant affidavit.
Police officers responded to the scene but left because they did not find any evidence that Romo burned the door.
An hour later, another tenant called the police and told them that Romo’s room was on fire.
That tenant told officers that before the second fire, Romo used his phone to text a relative, telling him “that if she doesn’t get her rent money, she’s going to burn down the house,” the affidavit states.
The affidavit states that Romo admitted to setting the door on fire, but not starting the fire in her room.
She said she set the first fire because the tenants didn’t pay their rent on time and that they “don’t keep the inside clean,” the affidavit states.
Police said they believe that Romo knowingly set the house ablaze even though people were inside.
Her bond is set at $30,000, records show.
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