JEFFERSON COUNTY — A 49-year-old Centralia man is free on $15,000 bond posted the day before he is scheduled for a pre-trial hearing Jefferson County arson case.
(Source: JCSO)
John H. Brown had been held in the Jefferson County Jail since his September 22 arrest, with bail set at $150,000.
A Jefferson County grand jury returned a bill of indictment against Brown for setting fire to his family’s home on Dix-Irvington Road.
He is charged with Class X felony aggravated arson knowing people present for allegedly pouring gasoline around the inside his girlfriend’s residence, setting it ablaze with his family inside, and then fleeing the home on foot.
The family was able to escape the fire without injury, but the home and its contents were destroyed. Brown was ultimately arrested at a Centralia residence after a day-long search for him throughout the area.
He was scheduled for a pre-trial hearing Tuesday in that case. Brown had made previous court appearances via streaming video from the jail. He is next scheduled January 3, 2017, for another pre-trial hearing.