Photo: Danny Haley
Danny Haley of Gassville, who set fire to a house he and his wife were renting following an argument between the pair, was sentenced on a reduced charge of reckless burning during a session of Baxter County Circuit Court last Thursday.
Haley was put on probation for six years and ordered to pay $35,000 in restitution, which will go to the owner of the rental property. He was required to pay $10,000 of the restitution prior to going before the court to have sentence pronounced. Haley was ordered to make monthly payments of $425 until the remaining $25,000 is paid.
Deputy Prosecutor Kerry Chism told the court the property owner approved of the plea.
Haley pled guilty to the charge late last month with sentencing continued until last Thursday.
According to the probable cause affidavit filed in the case, the 54-year-old Haley admitted setting a bed on fire in the residence along Moon Hollow Lane in the early morning hours of May 4, 2018. Haley told investigators he attempted to put the fire out, but it quickly got out of control, and he had to flee the house.
Haley was reported to have been extremely intoxicated at the time. He told a number of different stories regarding the fire.
At first, he blamed the woman identified as his wife for starting the fire, then said some unidentified person was the culprit. The next story had the owner of the property wanting it burned down, and another version had him unplugging a heater in the bedroom and a stray spark setting fire to the bed linen. The woman who shared the house with Haley said she left the residence, before the fire started, trying to find the owner of the rental house to tell him Haley had been threatening to burn the structure.
When she returned, the house was reported to be fully involved.
Eventually, Haley was reported to have accepted responsibility for the blaze, saying he had lit bedding on fire with a cigarette lighter.
No one was injured in the fire, but a family pet died in the burning structure, according to police reports.
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