A North Carolina man is in custody, after deputies say he set fire to a Wesley Chapel home.
According to the Pasco County Sheriff’s Office (PCSO), Buddy Ray Brown, 41, has been charged with first-degree arson for pouring gasoline on and then setting fire to an Angus Valley home on Saddletree Dr. on March 2.
PCSO reports that Brown was involved in an argument at the residence and was asked to leave, after which he was given a ride from one of the home’s residents to the Hess gas station, located about two miles away, at the intersection of S.R. 54 and Bruce B. Downs (BBD) Blvd., around 4 p.m.
The PCSO report says Brown then walked back to the residence and started the fire, which was reported at 5:26 p.m. After setting the fire, Brown fled to the nearby 7-11 on S.R. 54 at Old Pasco Rd.
Following his arrest, Brown denied setting the fire and told deputies that after he initially was dropped off at the Hess station, he just walked to the 7-11 and remained there until his arrest. Surveillance video from the 7-11, however, shows Brown walking past the 7-11 on his way back to the residence from Hess at 4:48 p.m., and then again coming from the direction of the residence and walking into the 7-11 at 6:39 p.m.
PCSO reports that Brown was visiting a woman that he had been communicating with online, who shared the Angus Valley home with three others.
Brown is charged with criminal mischief and first degree arson of an occupied dwelling and (at our press time) was being held at the Pasco County Detention Center in Land O’Lakes on a $150,150 bond.
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