Fourth-degree arson charges were filed in Preston County Magistrate Court on Friday following an investigation into an alleged “suspicious event” that occurred March 10 at Rainbow Tire in Masontown.
The well-known tire business has since closed due to the untimely passing of owner Christine Croucher, fondly known as “the Tire Lady.” Croucher’s death occurred less than two weeks before the alleged arson attempt.
According to the criminal complaint, law enforcement was dispatched to the tire shop on Veterans Memorial Highway after being advised “someone attempted to start a fire.”
On scene, State Police Corporal G.W. Merkich met with Masontown Fire Chief Dan Luzier, who said an employee said they observed sparks coming from underneath a desk.
Luzier told Merkich he was able to locate the objects that caused the spark — a brown extension cord and a paperclip.
“Mr. Luzier had demonstrated that an individual had wrapped a paperclip around the end of the extension cord (where the bottom prongs were) and stuck the extension cord into a black extension outlet,” Merkich said in the report.
The officer said he also met with several individuals in the business’s back office and asked who they thought could have committed the crime.
With the recent death of the business owner noted, several names were provided to the officer as potential suspects, but Merkich was told one of the people mentioned, Amanda Marie Titchenell, 38, of Reedsville, had a disagreement with some of the employees.
Upon returning to the police station, Merkich obtained surveillance footage via email from cameras at Rainbow Tire.
After reviewing the footage, Merkich reported observing Titchenell “obtain a paperclip from the desk and go underneath the desk.”
In the complaint, Merkich clarified the footage did not show Titchenell actually wrapping the paperclip around the electrical outlet but said she “is underneath the desk for several seconds and there was nothing wrong with previously stated outlet prior to the incident.”
Titchenell is charged with arson in the fourth degree, defined by West Virginia State Code as “any person who willfully and maliciously attempts to set fire to or burn, or attempts to cause to be burned, or attempts to aid … any person to burn” a building, structure, or personal property.
The penalty for fourth-degree arson is one to two years in prison, or a fine up to $2,500, or both.
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