Staff Report

Brandon Derrick Carr

COLUMBIA CITY — A Cromwell man was arrested for allegedly setting a truck and barn on fire in Columbia City.

Brandon Derrick Carr, 39, 207 Holiday Lane, Cromwell, is charged with two counts of arson, both level 4 felonies.

On May 8, a Whitley County Sheriff’s Office deputy responded to an incident at a Columbia City residence. A man reported he heard glass breaking and that someone was rummaging around near his truck.

According to court documents, as the man’s conversation continued with 911, he reported seeing flames coming from the truck. The flames began burning a barn that the man and a woman were inside. A 911 dispatcher said they attempted to get the man and woman to leave the barn, but they refused to do so since they were fearful of whoever was outside.

A Churubusco Police officer was the first to arrive at the scene and was able to safely get the man and woman out of the burning barn. At the scene, law enforcement noticed tire marks from a vehicle in the center of a nearby gravel driveway and part of the yard. The marks resembled a vehicle spinning its tires at a high rate of speed.

Firefighters arrived at the scene and put the fire out. The man and woman told law enforcement they believed Carr was responsible for the incident.

Upon further investigation, law enforcement discovered Carr had been in contact with a Kosciusko County Sheriff’s Office detective via text. On May 8, Carr had texted the detective, “I might need help, I think I f***** up.”

In a follow-up interview with police on May 14, the man said the woman was residing with him since she had previously been in a domestic situation with Carr in Noble County.

Officers were told Carr’s phone number and received a search warrant for its phone data. On June 24, a preliminary report showed Carr’s phone data location was in the area of the Columbia City residence at the time of the fire.

Whitley County Prosecutor D.J. Sigler has filed a notice of intent to seek a habitual offender status against Carr, who has two prior auto theft convictions.

Carr was booked in the Whitley County Jail on July 21. He has a pretrial conference at 8:30 a.m. Monday, Aug. 25, in Whitley Circuit Court.