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Pair accused of burning down bar arrested after returning to crime scene weeks later

3 years 2 months 1 week ago Monday, January 18 2021 Jan 18, 2021 January 18, 2021 3:46 PM January 18, 2021 in News
Source: WBRZ

PORT VINCENT - Two people are charged with setting fire to a deserted bar on Christmas Day after deputies found them at the scene of the crime more than three weeks later. 

The suspects, identified as 33-year-old Bridget Boutwell and 32-year-old Joseph Solar, were arrested Monday at the site where the Bayview Tavern once stood. 

Investigators with the state fire marshal's office said the vacant building along LA 16 was set on fire late at night Dec. 25. Witnesses reported seeing a red truck on the property the day of the fire, but no arrests were made in the weeks that followed. 

The Livingston Parish Sheriff's Office caught a break Monday, however, when someone reported seeing the same truck back at the property. Boutwell and Solar were found at the scene and questioned by deputies. 

During questioning the two admitted to breaking into the building the night of the fire in order to steal scrap and hide out from the cold. They also admitted to setting a fire in order to warm up. 

The pair was booked into the Livingston Parish Jail Monday on arson charges. Both are from the Prairieville area.

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