A man with an extensive criminal history is in jail once again following a disturbing incident last Wednesday night in Red Bud. 

Red Bud Police Chief John Brittingham told the North County News that a property dispute took place between two men at about 8 p.m., resulting in one man being set on fire.

During the dispute, Shawn Porter, 48, of Red Bud, poured an “unknown combustible fluid” onto the victim, a 76-year-old male of Red Bud.

The victim was transported by ambulance to Red Bud Regional Hospital, then flown to a St. Louis area hospital in serious condition with both second and third degree burns.

Porter left the scene on foot and then got into a standoff with police at his home. Police said Porter was alleged to have taken a hostage, which he released, but then barricaded himself in the home. 

Brittingham noted that after a few hours, police were able to subdue Porter and took him to the Randolph County Jail.

Porter has been charged with aggravated battery causing great bodily harm, obstructing justice and resisting a peace officer in addition to being wanted on an Illinois Department of Corrections warrant.

In May 2020, Porter was sentenced in Monroe County Circuit Court to two years in the Illinois Department of Corrections (served at 50 percent and with credit for 188 days already served) for felony violation of an order of protection (prior stalking). 

That sentence ran concurrently with a sentence in Randolph County on a 2017 charge of stalking (causing person distress).