If you decide to commit arson in the Phoenix metro area, you’ll most likely get caught in some way or another by authorities in the state. According to ABC News, the Phoenix Fire Department finished the year 2010 with the highest arson clearance rate in the country. The Phoenix Fire Department investigators reportedly cleared about 64 percent of arson cases in the local area, which is more than three times the national average of an 18 percent clearance rate.
Phoenix Fire Department Investigations Director Jack Ballentine said in ABC News that about half of the arson arrests last year were arrests of juveniles. Four serial arsonists were also arrested in 2010. Together, they were responsible for about a quarter of arson cases in the Phoenix metro area.
Local authorities see the 64 percent arson clearance rate as a significant improvement from last year, as investigators cleared just 55 percent of arson cases in the year 2009.
As stated through Arizona Revised Statute 13-1703, “a person commits arson of a structure or property by knowingly and unlawfully damaging a structure or property by knowingly causing a fire or explosion.” Arson of a structure or property is usually a class 4 felony or class 5 felony crime in the state of Arizona. This is unless the property had a value of only one hundred dollars or less, in which case the arson of property is a class 1 misdemeanor. A person that is convicted of an arson crime in the state may also be held liable for the expenses and costs of emergency response.
Related Resources:
- Find a Phoenix Criminal Lawyer (FindLaw)
- Arson - Criminal Law (FindLaw)
- Arson Conviction Reversed (FindLaw’s Ninth Circuit Blog)
ShareThis
