A Midway woman has been charged with setting fire to a house and damaging a pickup truck used by the home’s resident.Monica Dawn Ferguson faces charges of arson with damages greater than $100,000, a Class Y felony, and criminal mischief with damages greater than $5,000 and less than $25,000, a Class C felony. The 46-year-old also faces a penalty enhancement as a habitual offender.
She is being held in the Baxter County Detention Center on a $50,000 bond.
Shortly after 5:30 on the evening of Sept. 19, a sheriff’s deputy responded to a 911 call at a residence on Cedar Hills Road off Arkansas Highway 178 west of Midway. During the 911 call, the home’s resident, Rodney Hall, had said a female was smashing out the windows of his pickup truck.
When the deputy arrived, no one answered the door at the residence, but the deputy did notice a pickup truck in the driveway with damage to its windows.
According to a written statement provided by a neighbor, the neighbor had observed Hall and Ferguson fighting in the front yard. The neighbor observed Ferguson throwing rocks at Hall and using a chunk of concrete to damage the truck seen in the driveway. According to the statement, Ferguson yelled that Hall had hit her in the jaw. The neighbor’s statement also indicated that Hall had retreated to a residence down the road.
Shortly after 6:30, 911 received a call indicating that Hall’s residence was on fire. A patrol deputy responded to the site, where he made contact with Hall. During that encounter, Hall said that Ferguson had set fire to the house but refused to give an official statement. The deputy then talked to the neighbor that had called the fire in to 911. That neighbor said he had been driving by the house and had been flagged down by Ferguson. He stated that Ferguson told him the house was on fire and told him to call 911. The neighbor said Ferguson appeared to have a black eye and an injury to her jaw.
After the fire had been put out, deputies returned the following day to photograph the scene and encountered Hall again. Hall told the deputies that Ferguson had set fire to the house after the two had an argument and that she was the one who had damaged the pickup, which actually belonged to Hall’s landlord. Hall also said that Ferguson had told a neighbor that she had started the fire.
While photographing the remains of the house, deputies noted a pile of personal belongings piled up near the roadway. Hall identified those items as belonging to Ferguson. The probable cause affidavit for Ferguson’s arrest notes that the belongings had been set out near the roadway prior to the house being set ablaze.
Deputies contacted the neighbor that Hall mentioned, and she told them that Ferguson had come to her house the night before and told her to call 911 because she had set Hall’s residence on fire. The neighbor said Ferguson then left and began walking down the road.
According to the landlord, the house was fully furnished with nearly new furniture and appliances. Preliminary estimates puts the loss of the house and its contents at well over $100,000. Damage to the truck was estimated at approximately $5,000.
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