ROCHESTER - A 53-year-old Pine Island man last week was sentenced to four years in prison after he kidnapped a woman in October 2021 and set fire to her home.

Michael Steven Drury pleaded guilty in Olmsted County District Court in June to felony first-degree arson. Other charges including kidnapping, false imprisonment, making terroristic threats, first-degree burglary and second-degree assault with a dangerous weapon were dismissed.

Drury entered a Norgaard plea, which defendants make when contending that intoxication or amnesia prevents them from recalling their alleged actions.

He will receive about 11 months' credit for time spent in jail. Drury must also register as a predatory offender, per an amended sentencing order filed Monday.

According to court documents, Drury broke into a home around midnight on Oct. 20-21 in Rochester where a woman he knew was staying and forced her to drive him to her townhome in Pine Island. During the drive, he allegedly threatened to take the steering wheel and crash it into a bridge on Hwy. 52 and at one point punched the victim in the back of the head.

Court records say once at the victim's home, Drury grabbed a knife and threatened to kill the victim while he looked for other people inside the house. The victim managed to step outside at one point and called 911 shortly after 4 a.m.

Olmsted County and Goodhue County sheriff's deputies responded and saw Drury try to lower the home's garage door. Officers caught the door in time, but Drury retreated inside the house and started a fire near the front door. According to court records, Drury could be heard saying he was going to burn the house down and was making suicidal comments.

About an hour passed before officers eventually subdued Drury with a Taser after he went back to the garage when the house filled with smoke. He was arrested and taken to St. Marys Hospital in Rochester after he told officers he had swallowed some "overdose pills." The Pine Island Fire Department put the fire out several hours later and the home was deemed a total loss.