A Centre man arrested Tuesday on arson charges also is a suspect in a string of other arson cases on the street where he lives, Centre Fire Chief Kevin Ware.
Billy Joe Hicks, 56, of 230 Gossett St., is being held on cash bonds totaling $150,000 on two counts of second-degree arson, according to the Cherokee County Sheriff�s Department.
Ware said Hicks was arrested after authorities investigated the site of a house on Gossett Street owned by Gerald Cullen that was being rebuilt after an earlier fire.
Ware said there had been a fire at that location during the weekend and another fire at that location Tuesday morning. The house also had burned in February. Cullen was beginning to rebuild from the February fire, Ware said.
Ware said based on evidence provided by the homeowner, Hicks was brought in for questioning and confessed to the two fires but then wanted an attorney and would not discuss the other fires in which he is a suspect.
Ware said authorities collected enough evidence against Hicks on Tuesday to bring him in for questioning. Hicks admitted to the two fires and said he had a long-standing grudge against the homeowner, Ware said. He said Hicks had been a suspect since the investigation of the fires began. Ware said there have been several other suspects during the investigation.
Ware said Cullen said he was unaware of any grudge or disagreement with Hicks. A tracking dog from the DeKalb County Sheriff�s Department was able to track Hicks� scent from the scene of the fire to his residence.
even before he became chief and involved nine different structures on Gossett Street during about a three-year period. Ware said most of the nine structures had been destroyed by fire. He said the fires that were set used the same method and had been set using an accelerant.
Ware said the Centre Fire Department has worked on the cases along with the state fire marshal�s office and the Alabama Bureau of Investigation but had not been able to make any arrests.
He said the houses that burned had been owned by the same family and all the houses were vacant at the time of the fires.
Ware said Hicks �was in the suspect pool from the get-go.� Authorities are working on evidence to tie Hicks to the other fires.
He said Hicks lived two houses down from the most recent fire and that none of the fires was more than a quarter of a mile from Hicks� residence. Hicks had lived on the street for 40 years and rented a house from Cullen�s family.