Mo. woman pleads guilty to setting house on fire with bag of Takis spicy tortilla chips

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. (TCN) -- A 43-year-old woman will spend over a decade behind bars for starting a destructive house fire in a laundry room using gasoline and a bag of Takis tortilla chips.

Greene County court records show a judge sentenced Patricia Williams to 12 years in prison after she pleaded guilty to first-degree arson.

According to Williams' probable cause statement, on Aug. 11, 2023, a woman called 911 to report another woman had set her house on fire. Springfield Fire Department responders and Springfield Police Department officers went to the scene and located several people standing outside who claimed Williams started the blaze. Police found Williams at the scene and wrote in the affidavit that she "had soot on her face and was complaining of smoke inhalation." Firefighters extinguished the flames, and paramedics transported Williams to the hospital.

Police learned Williams had two warrants out for her arrest, so an officer went with her.

Two of the three victims told police they witnessed Williams pour gasoline from a soda bottle onto clothing and on the laundry room floor, then they saw her "ignite Takis chips on fire and then toss the chips into the laundry room, which ignited the gasoline and clothing." Those two victims helped a third wheelchair-bound victim out of the house.

A Springfield Fire Department investigator went inside the home and found a green soda bottle with "a strong odor of an ignitable liquid" and open bag of Takis chips. The investigator "determined the Takis chips could support a flame during a field flammability test."

When speaking with detectives, Williams said she "used the chips because she knew they would support combustion because of their grease content."

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