PEMBERTON TOWNSHIP — A township man has been charged with stabbing his brother after setting their home on fire.

Prosecutors say Thomas E. Pearson, 55, got into a fight with his 52-year-old brother and housemate on Saturday afternoon before grabbing a can of gasoline from the garage and using it to set their house ablaze.

When Pearson's sibling tried to stop him, he was stabbed by his older brother, police said.

Police were called to the house on Dartmouth Avenue about 5:15 p.m.

The Pemberton Township Volunteer Fire Co. extinguished the fire and Pearson was arrested.

He was charged with second-degree aggravated arson, third-degree aggravated assault, and third- and fourth-degree weapons offenses.

It was not known Tuesday whether Pearson had an attorney who could speak on his behalf.

This was the at least the second reported domestic violence incident involving arson in the state this month. In Bergen County, a man was charged with splashing gasoline around his estranged wife's house before police arrived and prevented him from igniting it.

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