BUCKHANNON – A Rock Cave man who police say was involved in a carjacking, police chase and standoff that originated at Arlington Mini-Mart has been charged with intentionally setting fire to land, bringing the total number of felonies he faces up to six.
Chad C. Newcome, 40, of Rock Cave was arrested Wednesday, March 10, for armed robbery, fleeing with reckless indifference, driving revoked DUI third offense and two counts of wanton endangerment. Now, he’s been charged with willfully, unlawfully and maliciously setting fires on lands, a felony, according to a new criminal complaint filed in the Upshur County Magistrate Clerk’s Office Monday.
According to the complaint filed by Upshur County Sheriff’s Department Chief Deputy Mike Coffman, Newcome allegedly “deliberately set fire to a wooded area” with a lighter and leaves and was reportedly “feeding the fire with more leaves and fanning the fire to get it started.”
The fire ultimately burned a wooded area that measured about 12-feet in diameter. Coffman’s complaint notes Newcome started the fire while he was in a standoff with police and had “engaged them in a threatening manner” after firing a shotgun. The report goes on to say that the Banks Volunteer Fire Department was paged out but was unable to reach the scene due to safety concerns, and law enforcement officers ultimately put the fire out.
The penalty for a conviction of willfully, unlawfully and maliciously setting fire to land is imprisonment in the state penitentiary for a definite term of not less than one but not more than five years, a fine of up to $5,000 or both.
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