MR

The story below happened yesterday, I saw them trying to put out the fire at this business as I was driving to my teacher's workshop yesterday...I did not know that someone had set fire to his home as well. There was a person who was receiving hospice care in the home and they had to get them out. This could have been a murder as well. I was stunned. This man has fixed my car many times, he is sweet and kind and goes out of his way to take care of his customers. I hope they catch who did this to this nice man!

GREENE COUNTY, AR (KAIT) –According to Arkansas State Police, the fire Thursday morning at Westside Automotive on West Kingshighway, and a house fire on Greene County Road 129 are connected and being investigated as suspicious.

The fire at Westside Automotive caused extensive damage to the business. Firefighters said flames were showing from the structure when they arrived on scene.

Later Thursday afternoon healthcare workers were able to save a wheelchair-bound man from a burning home on Greene County Road 129.

According to the fire department, hospice workers showed up to a home on Greene County Road 129 and saw flames coming from the home. The workers were able to rescue the man who was uninjured in the fire.

The fire department says the home is a total loss, and the fire has now spread to some nearby woods.

The Greene County Sheriff's Department and Arkansas State Police have also arrived on scene.

The cause of these two fires is currently under investigation, but investigators do say they are suspicious.

Region 8 News has a crew tracking this story and will have more updates as soon as they become available.

Copyright 2012 KAIT. All rights reserved.

So the arsonist set fire to the man's home and his business???

tough loss hope they catch the person responsible.

mikemarrs wrote:So the arsonist set fire to the man's home and his business???

tough loss hope they catch the person responsible.

I do too. He is a really nice man. He was always one to make sure he would get my car done even if he had a full load of cars to fix. He liked helping teachers he said because he felt we never got paid for what we were worth. Nice guy. He would give me a ride home till the car was fixed then sent someone to pick me up once it was repaired. How many repair guys do that? And he never charged all that bad for the work. Some people take advantage of a woman, but not this guy. Sad and shocking if you ask me. I will post if they ever find out who did it.

That's just wrong on so many levels. No matter what the person's beef is with the poor guy, there's no justification whatsoever for retaliation of that magnitude. I really, really hope they catch the person responsible. The beautiful thing about arson is there is no reduced sentence for first time offenders or for any other circumstance and judges are not allowed to show leniency in their sentencing.

We just had a case this past week where a millionaire who was seriously in arrears on the payments on his mansion in Paradise Valley (Ritzville here in the Phoenix area) set fire to it hoping to have his insurance take care of it. He donned a scuba suit and oxygen tank and climbed out a second story window into the arms of waiting firefighters and police claiming he couldn't find a clear path to exit and was unable to breathe as the reason for the scuba gear. Investigators immediately discovered the fire as being intentional and charged the man with not only arson but the more severe charge of arson of an occupied structure - even though he was the only person in the house!
The jury returned their guilty verdict this past Friday. As soon as the foreman announced the verdict, the man raised his hands to his face as if he was crying but actually ingested some sort of poison (cyanide pill perhaps). Within a couple of minutes the guy slumped over in his chair and fell to the floor. He was rushed to the hospital where he was pronounced dead. He would have been sentenced to 16 years in prison had he lived.

Here's video of the verdict being read and the guy's actions/reaction to it. Scroll down a little bit once the page loads to view the video.
http://www.ktar.com/22/1556308/Paradise ... -convicted

JRNYMAN wrote:That's just wrong on so many levels. No matter what the person's beef is with the poor guy, there's no justification whatsoever for retaliation of that magnitude. I really, really hope they catch the person responsible. The beautiful thing about arson is there is no reduced sentence for first time offenders or for any other circumstance and judges are not allowed to show leniency in their sentencing.

We just had a case this past week where a millionaire who was seriously in arrears on the payments on his mansion in Paradise Valley (Ritzville here in the Phoenix area) set fire to it hoping to have his insurance take care of it. He donned a scuba suit and oxygen tank and climbed out a second story window into the arms of waiting firefighters and police claiming he couldn't find a clear path to exit and was unable to breathe as the reason for the scuba gear. Investigators immediately discovered the fire as being intentional and charged the man with not only arson but the more severe charge of arson of an occupied structure - even though he was the only person in the house!
The jury returned their guilty verdict this past Friday. As soon as the foreman announced the verdict, the man raised his hands to his face as if he was crying but actually ingested some sort of poison (cyanide pill perhaps). Within a couple of minutes the guy slumped over in his chair and fell to the floor. He was rushed to the hospital where he was pronounced dead. He would have been sentenced to 16 years in prison had he lived.

Here's video of the verdict being read and the guy's actions/reaction to it. Scroll down a little bit once the page loads to view the video.
http://www.ktar.com/22/1556308/Paradise ... -convicted

I don't think in this case it was done by the owner. He had an older family member that was rushed out by Hospice caretakers that were coming by to check on his sick relative. I am sure he would not have done it knowing he had a deathly ill family member in the home. People are sick though. I bet it was someone he either refused a job to, or did not like what he did to fix their car.

Wow...that guy killed himself after the verdict? Dummy death is forever.

I will let you know if they find anything out on the Westside Automotive case. I would be shocked if he did it himself. Whoever did it almost committed murder, thank goodness the Hospice people got them out.

artist4perry wrote:

JRNYMAN wrote:That's just wrong on so many levels. No matter what the person's beef is with the poor guy, there's no justification whatsoever for retaliation of that magnitude. I really, really hope they catch the person responsible. The beautiful thing about arson is there is no reduced sentence for first time offenders or for any other circumstance and judges are not allowed to show leniency in their sentencing.

We just had a case this past week where a millionaire who was seriously in arrears on the payments on his mansion in Paradise Valley (Ritzville here in the Phoenix area) set fire to it hoping to have his insurance take care of it. He donned a scuba suit and oxygen tank and climbed out a second story window into the arms of waiting firefighters and police claiming he couldn't find a clear path to exit and was unable to breathe as the reason for the scuba gear. Investigators immediately discovered the fire as being intentional and charged the man with not only arson but the more severe charge of arson of an occupied structure - even though he was the only person in the house!
The jury returned their guilty verdict this past Friday. As soon as the foreman announced the verdict, the man raised his hands to his face as if he was crying but actually ingested some sort of poison (cyanide pill perhaps). Within a couple of minutes the guy slumped over in his chair and fell to the floor. He was rushed to the hospital where he was pronounced dead. He would have been sentenced to 16 years in prison had he lived.

Here's video of the verdict being read and the guy's actions/reaction to it. Scroll down a little bit once the page loads to view the video.
http://www.ktar.com/22/1556308/Paradise ... -convicted

I don't think in this case it was done by the owner. He had an older family member that was rushed out by Hospice caretakers that were coming by to check on his sick relative. I am sure he would not have done it knowing he had a deathly ill family member in the home. People are sick though. I bet it was someone he either refused a job to, or did not like what he did to fix their car.

Oh no, no, no, that's not what I was saying at all. I was noting the severity of the penalties that accompany arson. The situation I noted didn't hurt anyone and was basically just a guy attempting to defraud his insurance company but, since it was in fact arson and the district attorney charged him with arson of an occupied structure, they were able to insure a more severe penalty - 16 years. I'm hopeful that when they catch the guy responsible for the fires there in Arkansas, they're able to get him on extenuating circumstances and possibly get life in prison without parole. I for one, am glad that arson is one of those crimes which the government takes very seriously and has never restructured the penalties associated with it.

I didn't think you were saying that about the guy in Ark. I was just saying from knowing the man what little I do, I cannot see him doing what the guy you spoke of did. What an idiot! I wonder why people set fire to their own homes and stuff. They cannot get away with it. They suspect an inside job all the time, so the first person they look at is the owner. I feel bad for the guy in Ark. because till they find out who did it, his insurance won't pay I bet. So whoever did this did him a double cruelty.

artist4perry wrote:I didn't think you were saying that about the guy in Ark. I was just saying from knowing the man what little I do, I cannot see him doing what the guy you spoke of did. What an idiot! I wonder why people set fire to their own homes and stuff. They cannot get away with it. They suspect an inside job all the time, so the first person they look at is the owner. I feel bad for the guy in Ark. because till they find out who did it, his insurance won't pay I bet. So whoever did this did him a double cruelty.

As soon as the investigation eliminates him as a suspect, the insurance is obligated to pay for every expense the owner incurs as a result of the fire including not only the repair/rebuilding of the structure and replacement of the property destroyed but also his alternative living arrangements. Depending upon the type of insurance he had on his business, he may even get his lost revenue or a portion thereof paid so that he can stay current with his creditors.

JRNYMAN wrote:

artist4perry wrote:I didn't think you were saying that about the guy in Ark. I was just saying from knowing the man what little I do, I cannot see him doing what the guy you spoke of did. What an idiot! I wonder why people set fire to their own homes and stuff. They cannot get away with it. They suspect an inside job all the time, so the first person they look at is the owner. I feel bad for the guy in Ark. because till they find out who did it, his insurance won't pay I bet. So whoever did this did him a double cruelty.

As soon as the investigation eliminates him as a suspect, the insurance is obligated to pay for every expense the owner incurs as a result of the fire including not only the repair/rebuilding of the structure and replacement of the property destroyed but also his alternative living arrangements. Depending upon the type of insurance he had on his business, he may even get his lost revenue or a portion thereof paid so that he can stay current with his creditors.

I hope so, you would hate to think someone would do something like this out of a sick vendetta.

Obviously suspicious. Either someone had it in for him for whatever reasons or he was up to something. Crazier things have happened.

The Sushi Hunter wrote:Obviously suspicious. Either someone had it in for him for whatever reasons or he was up to something. Crazier things have happened.

I am sure they will do a follow up story about it once it is investigated. The whole house and business was gutted.