BATAVIA TOWNSHIP, Ohio — A Clermont County grand jury has indicted a 27-year-old Batavia Township man on arson charges tied to a mobile home fire earlier this month, according to the Clermont County Sheriff’s Office.
Dustin A. Bridewell was indicted Thursday on two counts of arson, both fourth-degree felonies, and one count of breaking and entering, a fifth-degree felony, the sheriff’s office said in a statement.
The Clermont County Communications Center received a 911 call reporting a residential structure fire at about 7:19 a.m. Aug. 2 in the 100 block of Savannah Circle in the Greenbriar Mobile Home Park, according to the sheriff’s office. The caller said the home’s former resident had recently been evicted and that no one was believed to be inside.
Deputies responded alongside the Central Joint Fire and EMS District and Williamsburg Fire and EMS, and found smoke and flames coming from the residence when they arrived, the release said. Fire crews extinguished the blaze within minutes and confirmed no one was inside, according to the sheriff’s office.
Detectives and investigators with the Clermont County Fire Investigation Team responded to examine the scene, collect evidence and interview witnesses, and classified the fire as arson, the sheriff’s office said. A review of surrounding surveillance footage allowed detectives to identify a man leaving the area minutes before the smoke and flames were spotted, and further investigation identified him as Bridewell, the home’s former resident, according to the release.
Clermont County detectives worked with the Boone County Sheriff’s Office in Kentucky to locate Bridewell on an unrelated warrant that had previously been issued in Clermont County, the sheriff’s office said. Boone County deputies took him into custody without incident and held him at the Boone County Jail pending extradition, according to the release.
Bridewell was extradited to Clermont County on Aug. 4 and booked into the Clermont County Jail on his active warrants, the sheriff’s office said. He declined to give a statement to detectives following his return, according to the release.
With help from the Clermont County Probation Department, detectives tracked GPS data from an ankle monitor Bridewell was wearing and determined he had remained at the residence throughout the evening before the fire, the sheriff’s office said. Investigators said that data further established Bridewell as the person unlawfully occupying the home and the one seen leaving shortly before the fire was discovered.
Bridewell remains in the Clermont County Jail, held without bond, according to the sheriff’s office. He is scheduled to be arraigned on the charges Friday at 10 a.m. before Clermont County Common Pleas Judge Anthony Brock.
Suspects are presumed innocent unless proven guilty in court.
The information contained in this story was obtained from the Clermont County Sheriff’s Office.