A Cedartown woman has been arrested by Floyd County police and charged with arson.
Floyd County police have made an arrest in the arson of High-Tech gas station located at 4428 Martha Berry Highway The fire occurred last week between 1 a.m. and 1:40 a.m. on the morning of March 8, 2011.
The station sustained damage when a person lit the side of the building on fire, burning the wiring that goes to the building's utilities. The wiring had also been yanked out with pliers. The audible alarm was set off and the person responsible left the scene.
A video was released by Detective Byron McCarley after his investigation led him to a Kangaroo Station, also on Martha Berry Highway, to view their video footage of the evening the incident occurred. A female was shown on the video entering the store and purchasing a gas can.
Minutes later, the female can be seen as she re enters the store with the newly purchased gas can in her hand. The female requested help from the clerk in removing the plastic line that holds the gas can nozzle lid securely to the gas container. The female was wearing dark clothing and dark gloves.
After scanning through many mugshots of women that met the description of the female, Detective McCarley released the video
to Rome-News Tribune. The video was published on their website and the detective received one tip that led to an arrest in the case.
to Rome-News Tribune. The video was published on their website and the detective received one tip that led to an arrest in the case.
Leslie Ann Ballard, age 40, of 634 Georgia Avenue (Lot 117) in Cedartown was located and detained for questioning. During questioning, detectives obtained enough information to charge Ms. Ballard with the crime.
Ballard was arrested on Tuesday, March 14, 2011 and charged with first degree arson, second degree criminal damage to property and interfering with public utilities. She is currently housed at the Floyd County Jail.
Arrest reports do not reflect the guilt or innocence of the individuals listed. All parties are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law. Not every arrest/charge leads to a conviction. A conviction or acquittal is determined by the court system.
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