5-Year Sentence For Man Who Tried Burning Down Morris County Apartment Building

MT. OLIVE – The Budd Lake man who pleaded guilty to aggravated arson in August will spend five years in prison, Morris County Prosecutor Fredric Knapp announced.

Douglas Scherr, 34, admitted to placing propane tanks around his apartment at Eagle Rock Village in Budd Lake on May 2, 2014, and lighting a candle before leaving the residence, Knapp said.

First responders arrived at 3:13 a.m. that day and extinguished a fire located in the kitchen area of the apartment, Knapp said. The source of the fire was determined to be a glass candle underneath a chair with clothing draped over it, Knapp said.

Scherr was not found at the scene, rather located and arrested in New York state later that day.

Scherr was sentenced to five years in prison with no parole eligibility for the first 85-percent of the term.