Woman Charged In Ames Church Fire Must Pay $25,000 Cash Bond

A judge has ruled that an Ames woman accused of setting a fire at St. Thomas Aquinas Church must pay a $25,000 cash bond before she can be released from jail.

Tina Meyer's attorney requested a bond reduction. Meyer has .

Meyer's estranged husband told Judge Dale Ruigh during a bond review hearing on Monday that Tina Meyer would be a danger to herself if she was released from jail.

Dan Meyer said, his wife, r, has battled mental health issues for years.

“There is no way she will keep herself safe,” said Dan Meyer who was a witness for the state.

Meyer's attorney Maria Ruhtenberg, said Tina Meyer has served as a special education teacher for the Ballard Community School District for 14 years and had three children in the area and didn't pose a flight risk. She asked that the bond be reduced to $10,000 cash or surety.

However, Timothy Meals, assistant attorney with the Story County Attorney’s Office, argued that her bond be cash only saying that the fire caused more than $500,000 in damages and at least 30 people were in the church at the time.

“We are very concerned about what could happen if she is out on the street,” Meals said.

Dan Meyer said he and Tina Meyer had been separated for more than two years and that Tina Meyer recently filed for a divorce. He said that she had suffered from mental health problems and that she had threatened and attempted suicide on multiple occasions.

“I don't see how there is any way that she would not harm herself,” Dan Meyer said.

Ruigh didn't make a decision at the time of the hearing due to a high case load.

A fire broke out about 9:30 p.m. Sept. 25 in St. Thomas Aquinas Church's second story near a sitting area. A couch and some carpet were burned in the fire, which was quickly extinguished by firefighters. However smoke filled the building leaving a thin film of soot behind and heat melted some of the light fixtures which has temporarily displaced the congregation.

Meyer, who had been attending the church, was seen by several witnesses the night of the fire according to criminal complaints and was found around 12 a.m. Sept. 26 near the Ames Police Department with burns around her feet and a cut on one of her legs.