FRANKLIN COUNTY — A 39-year-old Buckner man was arrest shortly after midnight Tuesday for burglary and arson.

According to the Franklin County Sheriff’s Office, Robert E. Hartley was arrested by deputies in a rural area near Orient. Hartley is tentatively charged with a single count of burglary and arson.

Officials say the alleged crime was reported in rural Benton last Friday. Hartley is being held in the Franklin County Jail awaiting the setting of bail and the formal filing of charges.

More charges could be filed against him as the investigation continues into this and other crimes reported to have happened in the same area at approximately the same time and are believe to be related.

The sheriff’s office is being assisted in these investigations by the State Fire Marshal’s office and Illinois State Police Crime Scene Services.

Hartley has three open felony cases from 2015 in Franklin County, including charges of home repair fraud, aggravated home repair fraud, and theft.

In January 2016, Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan filed suit against Hartley for violating the state’s Consumer Fraud and Deceptive Business Practices Act and the Home Repair and Remodeling Act.

Hartley, doing business as Hartley and French Roofing and Hartley’s Contracting, is accused of cheating Franklin and Hamilton County residents out of more than $127,000 for work that was either substandard or never performed.

A pretrial hearing on the fraud and theft charges is set for May 5.