A federal grand jury in Little Rock has indicted a Stuttgart man in connection with a fire that burned down the Arkansas County courthouse annex in Stuttgart in September.
Donald Aaron, 45, is facing two arson charges, each under different subsections of federal law. The first charge notes that the fire Sept. 23 resulted in the injury of a city employee, and the second notes that the building at 312 S. College St. was used by law enforcement and county officials that receive federal financial assistance.
The fire began in the early morning hours and quickly swept through the structure built in 1918, destroying it.
The blaze was at first thought to be an electrical fire, but further evidence gathered at the scene by federal agents pointed to arson, Grover Crossland, resident agent in charge of the Little Rock field office of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives said two weeks after it occurred.
Since 1992, the two-story building had housed several county offices, including the sheriff's office, the Arkansas State Police, the 911 coordinator's office, the Office of Emergency Management, the assessor, the collector and the county judge.
The fire disrupted 911 operations, but the services were rerouted and relocated to continue serving residents in the area, U.S. Attorney Chris Thyer said Tuesday.
Sonny Cox, county judge of Arkansas County, said in October that the fire wasn't a "total disaster for county government" because Arkansas County has two county seats, in Stuttgart and DeWitt. He said vital records were stored on backup disks at the DeWitt courthouse.
Thyer said that the building sustained an estimated $2.5 million to $3 million in damage and had to be demolished. He said a city employee was injured in a construction equipment accident during cleanup efforts.
Both charges that Aaron faces are punishable by seven to 40 years in prison and a fine of up to $250,000. He made his first appearance Monday before U.S. Magistrate Judge Tom Ray and was remanded to custody pending trial.
Metro on 02/21/2015