Mans pants set on fire

EDWARDSVILLE -- A Metro East man is free on $20,000 bond after being accused of setting another man's pants on fire.

Twenty-one-year-old Joseph Hornsey of Godfrey is charged with aggravated battery.

Investigators say the victim was treated at a hospital for second- and third-degree burns to his leg.

Madison County Sheriff's Captain Brad Wells says the 20-year-old victim had been drinking alcohol and camping in Hornsey's backyard when Hornsey lit the frayed strings on the man's pants.

Wells says the alleged victim managed to put out the fire and went back to sleep, only to awaken later with burn-related blisters on his leg.

A message seeking comment from Hornsey was left Wednesday with a relative.