A man was arrested and charged for deliberately setting off three different South Charlotte fires on Jan.15.
Zackery Conrad McGaha, 21 has been charged with two counts of carelessness with fire, two counts of first-degree arson, and damage to property in four separate incidents.
The first fire started on Ballantyne Commons Parkway, followed by another two hours later on the same street. Both were brush fires that firefighters were able to put out before much damage occurred. An investigator determined the fires were intentional.
While this investigation was happening, police received a 911 call reporting an apartment fire about a tenth of a mile away on Otter Creek Drive. Two doors of the apartment were set on fire from someone lighting dried Christmas wreaths on the doors, police said. There were people inside both apartment when the fires began.
Around the same time and near these fires, a man reported to police that someone had broken his vehicle window and fled.
McGaha was taken into custody Monday and is at the Mecklenburg County jail in lieu of $53,000 bail. Police didn’t specify how they identified the man as a suspect.
