Volunteer Firefighter Arrested On Arson Charge

Sat., Aug. 1, 1998

From Staff

A volunteer firefighter, another man and a 12-year-old boy have been arrested for investigation in a series of intentionally set fires, the Benton County Sheriff’s Department reported Friday.

Aaron A. Lewis, 22, a Benton County Fire District volunteer from Plymouth, was booked into jail without bond Thursday for investigation of five counts of second-degree arson, sheriff’s spokesman Capt. Larry Taylor said.

Luis Lorenzo Montez, 23, and the boy, both of Plymouth, were arrested Friday, Taylor said.

Montez was booked into jail on one count of intimidating a witness. The boy, held on two counts of second-degree arson, was transported to the county’s Juvenile Justice Center, Taylor said.

Police believe three people were involved in a fire that destroyed the Plymouth tavern and an adjacent mobile home early Thursday, as well as several other brush fires in the Plymouth area.

Police allege Lewis either set the fires or got the youth to do it, would wait for the volunteer fire department to arrive, then assist in putting the fires out, Taylor said.

Montez is accused of threatening Lewis and his wife to keep the boy out of the investigation, Taylor said.

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