Latest Arson Headlines
All the headlines from our Arson Topic Page, ordered by recency.
Four Charged in 1999 Arson Fire at Michigan State University
Mar 13 2008 // More than eight years after a New Year’s Eve fire at Michigan State University, four people have been indicted related to an arson incident federal authorities said Tuesday was an act of domestic terrorism. The...
Georgia: Firefighters Arrested and Charged in Irwin County Arson Case
Mar 5 2008 // Insurance and Safety Fire Commissioner John W. Oxendine said four additional arrests have been made in a serial arson case involving Irwinville volunteer firefighters, and additional charges have been filed against the...
Judge Refuses to Reduce Charges in Tennessee Mosque Fire
Feb 27 2008 // A judge has refused to reduce charges against three men accused of burning down a mosque in Columbia, Tenn. Defense attorneys argued unsuccessfully Monday that the charges should be reduced to arson, instead of arson of a...
Officials Suspect Arson Caused University of Tennessee Dorm Evacuation
Feb 27 2008 // Tennessee officials arrested a man on suspicion of setting a fire in the elevator of a dormitory at Knoxville’s University of Tennessee. Authorities have not identified the man or said if he was a student. Greve Hall...
S.C. Church Fire Causes $300,000 Damage, Arson Ruled Out
Feb 20 2008 // Sumter County, S.C. fire officials are investigating the origin of a church fire that caused about $300,000 in damages and destroyed the sanctuary. No foul play is suspected. Sumter Fire Captain Brian Horton said the fire...
Texas Grand Jurors Suing to Disclose Evidence in Alleged Arson Case
Feb 15 2008 // Six members of a Houston grand jury that indicted a Texas Supreme Court justice and his wife over a house fire have filed a lawsuit so they can speak about evidence in the case. By law, grand jury proceedings are...
Arson Suspected at Tenn. Mosque, Federal Agents Investigate
Feb 11 2008 // A mosque in Columbia, Tenn., was destroyed by a fire last week that federal investigators say appears to have been caused by arson. Investigators also found drawings of swastikas and other graffiti at the Islamic Center of...
Ind. Sherriff’s Son Sentenced to 1 Year in Prison for Arson Fires
Feb 7 2008 // The 23-year-old son of Morgan County Sheriff Robert Garner has been sentenced to one year in prison on arson charges. Robert Jake Garner pleaded guilty in September to five charges in a series of suspicious fires since...
Florence, Ala., Fire Deemed Arson
Feb 6 2008 // A warehouse fire in Florence, Ala., that caused more than $1 million in damage has been classified as an arson, State Fire Marshal Ed Paulk said last week. “The evidence collected at the scene clearly points to...
Men Charged with Setting Fire to Home of ‘Mary’ from ‘Little Lamb’ Poem
Feb 6 2008 // Two men are accused of burning down the Sterling, Mass. birthplace of the woman made famous by the nursery rhyme “Mary Had a Little Lamb.” John Rousseau and Michael Dreslinski, who also face charges in a series...
S.D. Man Accused of Arson Scheduled for Court Appearance
Feb 5 2008 // A Sioux Falls man wanted on charges he and a business partner burned their business to collect the insurance money has been arrested in Arizona and scheduled for his first court appearance. Dai Thanh Ong, 27, and Chad...
Fire that Destroyed Alabama Animal Shelter Ruled Arson
Feb 1 2008 // Alabama fire marshals have determined that arson was to blame for a November fire that destroyed an unlicensed animal shelter in Rainsville, Ala., whose operator said more than 50 animals died as a result of the...
Arson Task Force to Probe South Philly Fires
Jan 28 2008 // Philadelphia Fire Commissioner Lloyd Ayers says an arson task force is looking at four fires set at the front doors of occupied homes. They were set this month and last month in South Philadelphia. Ayers says he fears...
Iowans and South Dakotans Charged in Arson Schemes
Jan 27 2008 // Federal grand jurors have indicted two Sioux Falls men on charges of burning down their car stereo installation business to collect the insurance money. One of them, Chad Michael Blair, 31, earlier was charged with an...
Ala. Lawmaker’s Son One of Two Arrested in Arson Cases
Jan 25 2008 // The son of an Alabama legislator is one of two men charged with arson and attempted burglary in what Cullman County authorities say is an investigation of suspicious fires in the Hanceville, Ala., area. Jerrod Heath Fite,...
Iowans and South Dakotans Charged in Arson Scams
Jan 22 2008 // Federal grand jurors have indicted two Sioux Falls men on charges of burning down their car stereo installation business to collect the insurance money. One of them, Chad Michael Blair, 31, earlier was charged with an...
Georgia Pastor Charged for Arson in Church Fire
Jan 21 2008 // The pastor of an Albany, Ga., church has been charged with first degree arson in connection with a fire that did severe damage to the church, the Georgia Insurance and Safety Fire Commissioner’s office said. The Rev....
Former Md. Deputy to Serve Home Detention for Arson
Jan 18 2008 // A former Frederick County Sheriff’s Deputy will avoid jail time for setting fire to his girlfriend’s sport utility vehicle in alleged insurance scheme. Thirty-eight-year-old Theodore Randolph Dorsey of...
Kan. Firefighter, Wife Charged with Arson, Insurance Fraud
Jan 18 2008 // A Kansas firefighter and his wife are charged with multiple felonies in an alleged insurance fraud-arson scheme. Shawnee Heights Fire District firefighter Laramie McPherson and his wife Christine McPherson are accused of...
Latest Ala. Church Fire Accidental, Officials Look for Arson Link in 2 Others
Jan 17 2008 // Alabama investigators said a blaze that gutted a Blount County church on Tuesday was an accident, but they are still trying to determine whether there was a link between two church fires in Chilton County. Flames burned...
