JUNE 17, 2002
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
After three suspicious June 2nd fires
inside the Rhodes, Inc. Printing Company, in
Charlestown
; an arrest has been
made by Charlestown Police. Charlestown
Police Detective Don Wolfe arrested 19 year old Michael Hay, of
Jeffersonville
, Sunday after
substantial evidence arose in the investigation.
Michael Hay, a Rhodes, Inc. employee at the time of the fires, has been
charged with two B Felony counts of Arson, as well as one A Felony count of
Arson, due to the injury to a
Charlestown
firefighter during one
of the fires. Investigation by the
Indiana Fire Marshall’s Office, Charlestown Fire and Police Departments
concluded that all three fires had been deliberately set, and had originated in
the facilities’ warehouse and bailing areas.
During one of the fires, over 40 employees working in the facility had to
be evacuated, which required the response of four area fire departments to
extinguish. Rhodes, Inc. management
reported to Charlestown Police Chief Wayne Crumpton an estimated loss of
approximately $790,000 due to the fires. Hay
is currently being held without bail at the Clark County Jail awaiting
arraignment on all three Arson charges.
For more information on the Charlestown Police Department, visit
www.ctownpd.com , and www.charlestownfiredept.org for the Charlestown Volunteer
Fire Department.
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