February 23, 2018
By: Dwayne Page
A man charged with arson after setting fire to the home where he lived at 5078 Lower Helton Road near Alexandria in November entered a plea by criminal information in DeKalb County Criminal Court Friday.
Judge David Patterson presided.
46 year old Jason Bryan Hale received a four year sentence on the arson charge but he has been given jail credit of 107 days served and he will be on supervised probation for the remainder of the term Other charges against him were apparently dismissed including a charge of assaulting an officer and resisting stop, frisk, halt, arrest, or search.
Central dispatch received the call at 5:58 p.m. on November 8, 2017 and paged members of the DeKalb County Volunteer Fire Department. The caller alerted 911 that someone was still inside the home and that he refused to leave. It was later reported that the man had gone outside the home and was armed with a shotgun.
Sheriff Patrick Ray and officers of the Sheriff’s Department arrived at the scene and took the man (Hale) into custody. It turns out that Hale had no weapon, but he did hit an officer while being moved to safety prior to his arrest.
The home was destroyed in the blaze. The owner of the residence was Ann Greene.
Sheriff Ray said the arson warrant against Hale alleged that “he did knowingly damage the structure of 5078 Lower Helton Road by setting it on fire. Hale did have the intent to destroy the residence”.
In the warrant for assaulting an officer, Sheriff Ray said “a deputy responded to 5078 Lower Helton Road for a structure fire. Upon arrival he made contact with Hale and while trying to move him to safety Hale intentionally and recklessly struck him in the face with his right hand”.
Sheriff Ray said that in the warrant for resisting stop, frisk, and halt, “ a deputy responded to a structure fire and while on the scene as he was placing Hale under arrest for assault, he actively resisted by pulling his arms and not cooperating with lawful commands to put his hands behind his back. Hale was arrested and brought to the jail for booking,” said Sheriff Ray.
Neither the deputy nor anyone else was injured.
In addition to the DeKalb County Volunteer Fire Department, Sheriff’s Department, and DeKalb EMS, members of the Alexandria Volunteer Fire Department and Alexandria Police Chief Chris Russell were called to provide mutual aid support.