MISSOULA – Bail has been set at $200,000 for a 33-year-old Lolo man accused of using divorce papers to start a fire that burned down his estranged wife’s Frenchtown beauty salon.
Prosecutors say Shawn Gawronski was sitting in his truck, gun in hand, near the burning Gifted Hands salon when deputies arrived early Monday morning. He was arrested a short time later, and court records say he acknowledged spreading gasoline throughout the building and using his divorce papers to get the fire going.
Authorities say they have responded to reports of vandalism to vehicles belonging to friends and relatives of salon owner Jennifer Warner, Gawronski’s estranged wife. She says Monday was the deadline for Gawronski to respond to her divorce filing and she had a restraining order against him.
Gawronski is charged with arson, violation of a protection order and criminal mischief.