Police believe 23-year-old Austin Gabauer got in a dispute with his girlfriend and then set fire to her male friend's porch last month.
TRENTON - A man who police say got into a domestic dispute with a girlfriend before setting fire to her friend's duplex last month, is scheduled to appear in court on Thursday.
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A Keansburg man was convicted of impersonating a state trooper and robbing another Keansburg man and his friend in the man's home in October 2012. Police named Austin Gabauer, 23, Wednesday as the suspect in a series of escalating incidents last month that ended with him setting fire to the residence of his girlfriend's male friend, according to police.
They charged Gabauer with aggravated arson shortly after the fire in mid-November.
The incidents started with a domestic dispute between a man - later identified as Gabauer - and his girlfriend, according to police. The girlfriend went to a bar where friends, including a male friend, consoled her after the dispute.
Gabauer showed up at the bar, got into an altercation with the male friend and left, only to text his girlfriend later saying that he was going to set fire to the male friend's "crib," according to police.
ALSO: Trenton fire was arson stemming from domestic dispute
Trenton police, who obtained several text messages sent by Gabauer, believe the 23-year-old went to the friend's duplex on the 700 block of William Street and set fire to the porch.
Firefighters arrived to the scene around 3:30 a.m. on Nov. 14 and had the flames under control in around 25 minutes but quickly noticed it was suspicious.
The flames mostly destroyed a vacant side of the duplex but still left multiple people temporarily homeless.
Police quickly identified Gabauer as a suspect and issued a warrant for his arrest. They charged him shortly after the fire at a hospital room where he was being treated for an undisclosed reason.
He is scheduled to appear in Mercer County Criminal Court at 8:30 a.m. Thursday for a bail hearing.
Anna Merriman may be reached at amerriman@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Twitter @anna_merriman Find The Times of Trenton on Facebook.
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