A Rathdrum man accused of dumping kerosene on his girlfriend and lighting her on fire after a Valentine’s Day argument over karaoke at a local bar will face felony charges of aggravated battery, third degree arson and felony domestic battery.

Dustin R. Hieronymus, 38, who is on probation after being released from prison seven months earlier on a separate aggravated assault, was bound over to First District Court after the court found enough evidence at a Tuesday preliminary hearing in Coeur d’Alene.

Magistrate Timothy Van Valin left the bond set at $500,000 despite objections from defense attorney Zachary Jones who wanted to have the bail amount reduced to less than $100,000. Jones also argued against having three charges against his client.

“This was one fluid incident,” Jones said. “This is all one.”

Hieronymus is accused of dumping a bucket of water over the head of his girlfriend after the couple returned home from a Valentine’s Day outing at the Main Street Tavern in Rathdrum.

His girlfriend wanted to keep singing karaoke, but Hieronymus wanted to leave, according to a report. The couple argued, left the bar and continued to argue when they returned home after 7 p.m. to a residence on the 14000 block of N. Idaho Road that was under construction and didn’t have running water.

That is when Hieronymus allegedly covered the woman’s head with a bucket used to store water before striking the bucket several times, causing bruising of the victim’s head. When the woman went to lie down on a mattress, Hieronymus allegedly doused her head and upper body with kerosene and set it aflame.

The girlfriend suffered cuts and burns to her arms and face, and her hair was burned.

Hieronymus had a bruise and cut above his left eye.

Calling the violence in the case “daunting,” Van Valin said it was significant enough to cause the victim mental trauma.

“(She is) likely to carry the horror of what happened to her the rest of her life,” the judge said.

Aggravated assault, the most serious of the charges, carries a prison sentence of up to 15 years. A District Court hearing has not yet been set in the case.