A Carter County man faces an attempted arson charge after police say a volunteer firefighter reported seeing the man attempt to start a brush fire in Roan Mountain.
Deputies of the Carter County Sheriff’s Office arrested Dylan Davis, 20, of 372 Sims Hill Road, Elizabethton, on Dec. 21 and charged him with attempted arson and underage consumption of alcohol.
Davis appeared in Carter County General Sessions Court on Wednesday for arraignment. Judge Keith Bowers set Davis’ bond as a $500 corporate bond, which means Davis would have to go through a professional bonding agency in order to post bail and be released from jail. Davis remained held at the Carter County Detention Center on Thursday evening. Bowers scheduled Davis to return to court on Feb. 14, 2017.
According to court documents, deputies with the CCSO responded to a report of an attempted arson on the afternoon of Dec. 21 on Old Railroad Grade Road in Roan Mountain. Deputies later summoned CCSO Investigator Travis Ludlow to respond to the scene.
“Upon arrival I spoke to Jonathan Arnett, a volunteer with the Roan Mountain Fire Department. Arnett told me that he was driving down Old Railroad Grade and saw a man crouched next to a pile of brush on the roadside attempting to light it with a lighter,” Ludlow said in the affidavit of complaint against Davis. “He said the man stood up and waved at him, and he got a good view of him. The suspect then got into a vehicle, and Arnett pursued the man in the vehicle and called 911.”
Deputies were able to stop the suspect vehicle on Highway 19E in the area of Whitehead Hill. Davis was a passenger in the vehicle and Arnett identified him as the man he saw attempting to set the fire, Ludlow said.
According to court documents Davis appeared to be intoxicated and told officers he had consumed “five or six beers.” Deputies then arrested Davis on a charge of underage consumption of alcohol while Ludlow continued to investigate the reported attempted arson.
“I went to the scene and observed that some of the leaves in the brush pile had burned, but the brush appeared to have been too damp to catch,” Ludlow said. “I spoke to Dylan Davis at the Sheriff’s Office and he told me that he had gotten out of the car to use the restroom and smoke a cigarette, and tried to light the brush on fire.”
Ludlow then charged Davis with attempted arson.