ATLANTA (AP) -- Tips to authorities led to the arrests of two men suspected of starting 33 recent fires that caused $4 million in damages.
Brandon Marty Cook, 25, and Raymond Chad Hansard, 20, both of Cumming, have been charged with a fire and burglary at a business in Suwanee. More charges are pending, said Forsyth County sheriff's Capt. Frank Huggins.
The two men were scheduled to appear before Forsyth County Magistrate Judge Barbara Cole Thursday morning, Huggins said.
The suspects were being questioned Wednesday as a state task force established to investigate the fires met with state Insurance and Fire Commissioner John Oxendine.
A third man arrested in Hall County is no longer considered a suspect, Huggins said.
The state arson hot line and Forsyth County 911 received tips Tuesday that enabled authorities to give descriptions of the suspects and a vehicle to the 15 police agencies investigating the fires, Oxendine said.
Cook and Hansard were arrested at an upscale subdivision Wednesday morning when Lt. Kevin Wallace, an arson investigator with the Forsyth County Fire Department, responded to a fire at an unoccupied house in the subdivision.
Wallace spotted a truck matching the description of a suspect's vehicle at the subdivision clubhouse and initially thought it was empty. When he saw there were two people inside, he called for backup.
``We just happened to be at the right place at the right time,'' Wallace said.
The suspects drove away, and Wallace said they obeyed every stop sign but wouldn't pull over until a Forsyth County sheriff's car cut them off.
Cook and Hansard were charged with arson and burglary in connection with the fire that prompted the arson tip, Wallace said. The two are not charged with the Wednesday morning fire, although they are suspects, the lieutenant said.
The charges stem from a burglary and arson last week at NITTA Corp. in Suwanee, said Maj. Gene Moss of the Forsyth County Sheriff's Department. The company manufactures industrial belting.
Oxendine could not say if the Wednesday morning fire was started in the same fashion as previous fires.
``It's still premature to say because the scene is still kind of hot,'' he said.
A third man, Michael James Mewborn, 20, was arrested Wednesday in Hall County based on the same tip, Oxendine said.
Huggins said Mewborn was no longer a suspect, but has been charged with receiving stolen goods and a probation violation.
Oxendine said the three men know each other and had ``business and/or personal relationships with each other.''
Forsyth County authorities searched Cook and Hansard's homes Wednesday. Moss said police recovered a ``considerable amount of property'' that link the men to previous burglaries and fires.
The fires took place at low-, middle- and high-income establishments and included commercial and residential buildings, said Glenn Allen, a spokesman for Oxendine. None of the buildings were occupied, Oxendine said.
Sgt. Chris Lagerbloom of the Alpharetta Police Department said burglary charges in the YMCA case will probably be filed Thursday. Alpharetta Fire Marshal David Morris would say only that one or two Alpharetta fires appear to be related.
The only possible motive Oxendine would divulge is burglary, but he emphasized it is not the only motive.
Moss and Oxendine said they expect more charges in various jurisdictions.
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