Man arrested for setting fire to sheriff's office
Posted: Wed Jun 02, 2010 8:37 am
Double Tap's Home Town
Robbinsville man arrested for setting fire to sheriff's office
Former resident of Jackson County
A Robbinsville man was arrested Sunday evening and charged with starting the fire that destroyed the sheriff’s office and county extension office May 17.
The suspect is also charged with burning a mobile home just north of Robbinsville off U.S. 129.
Mitchum Turpin, 36, of Happy Hollow Road, was charged with five counts of burning personal property, malicious injury to a public building using incendiary materials, breaking and entering, destroying criminal evidence, common law obstruction of justice and burning a single-wide mobile home at 129 Tapoco Road.
“Ever since the destruction of the sheriff’s office, my officers have been working nonstop on this investigation,” said Graham County Sheriff Russell Moody.
“We have been working in conjunction with the State Bureau of Investigation, and the district attorney’s office, and I’m pleased to say all that hard work paid off with his arrest.”
Originally from Jackson County, Turpin is no stranger to law enforcement. He spent several years in prison on first-degree kidnapping charges, breaking and entering, and attack with a deadly weapon with intent to kill. He was recently arrested by Graham County deputies for possession of marijuana.
“We stopped a black Chevrolet Cavalier in a traffic stop at the intersection of Hares Creek and U.S. 129 on Wednesday, May 12,” said Graham County Detective Jeremy Spencer.
“A K-9 search was conducted on the vehicle and a positive alert for narcotics was made. Mitchum had two other people in the vehicle with him. We had all of them get out so we could search the car.”
Spencer said officers found the contraband when they opened the trunk.
“All three people were on probation or parole, and all denied knowledge of the marijuana,” Spencer said. “We didn’t arrest anyone at the time because I wanted to check with those officers first to see if there were any additional problems we needed to know about.”
A couple of days later Spencer had charges drawn up on Turpin, and went to his residence to arrest him. A small amount of marijuana was found at his home.
Turpin was arrested and charged with felony possession of marijuana, possession with intent to manufacture, sell and deliver schedule VI controlled substance, and maintaining a place for controlled substance. He was placed under a $10,000 bond that he made later that day.
On Monday, May 17, at 2:30 a.m., the dispatch center received a 911 call that the sheriff’s office was on fire. Investigation into the cause of the fire revealed an air conditioner window unit had been knocked out to allow fire and smoke to escape.
The contents of the investigation division suffered extensive heat, fire and smoke damage. An arson canine alerted officers to three separate areas on the floor of the burned building indicating the presence of ignitable liquids.
Through interviews and further investigation, officers were able to tie Turpin to the fire. He had made inquiries as to where evidence held by the sheriff’s office was located, and had made statements relating he “would do anything to not be sent back to prison.”
Turpin is being held at the Cherokee County Jail under a $250,00 bond. He is scheduled to appear in court on June 14. Investigation is still ongoing concerning the marijuana.
“I would like to thank the SBI’s Special Response Team for helping me get Mitchum off the streets,” Moody said. “I also want to thank the N.C. Sheriffs’ Association and all the sheriffs across the state for their help in getting this office up and running.”
Robbinsville man arrested for setting fire to sheriff's office
Former resident of Jackson County
A Robbinsville man was arrested Sunday evening and charged with starting the fire that destroyed the sheriff’s office and county extension office May 17.
The suspect is also charged with burning a mobile home just north of Robbinsville off U.S. 129.
Mitchum Turpin, 36, of Happy Hollow Road, was charged with five counts of burning personal property, malicious injury to a public building using incendiary materials, breaking and entering, destroying criminal evidence, common law obstruction of justice and burning a single-wide mobile home at 129 Tapoco Road.
“Ever since the destruction of the sheriff’s office, my officers have been working nonstop on this investigation,” said Graham County Sheriff Russell Moody.
“We have been working in conjunction with the State Bureau of Investigation, and the district attorney’s office, and I’m pleased to say all that hard work paid off with his arrest.”
Originally from Jackson County, Turpin is no stranger to law enforcement. He spent several years in prison on first-degree kidnapping charges, breaking and entering, and attack with a deadly weapon with intent to kill. He was recently arrested by Graham County deputies for possession of marijuana.
“We stopped a black Chevrolet Cavalier in a traffic stop at the intersection of Hares Creek and U.S. 129 on Wednesday, May 12,” said Graham County Detective Jeremy Spencer.
“A K-9 search was conducted on the vehicle and a positive alert for narcotics was made. Mitchum had two other people in the vehicle with him. We had all of them get out so we could search the car.”
Spencer said officers found the contraband when they opened the trunk.
“All three people were on probation or parole, and all denied knowledge of the marijuana,” Spencer said. “We didn’t arrest anyone at the time because I wanted to check with those officers first to see if there were any additional problems we needed to know about.”
A couple of days later Spencer had charges drawn up on Turpin, and went to his residence to arrest him. A small amount of marijuana was found at his home.
Turpin was arrested and charged with felony possession of marijuana, possession with intent to manufacture, sell and deliver schedule VI controlled substance, and maintaining a place for controlled substance. He was placed under a $10,000 bond that he made later that day.
On Monday, May 17, at 2:30 a.m., the dispatch center received a 911 call that the sheriff’s office was on fire. Investigation into the cause of the fire revealed an air conditioner window unit had been knocked out to allow fire and smoke to escape.
The contents of the investigation division suffered extensive heat, fire and smoke damage. An arson canine alerted officers to three separate areas on the floor of the burned building indicating the presence of ignitable liquids.
Through interviews and further investigation, officers were able to tie Turpin to the fire. He had made inquiries as to where evidence held by the sheriff’s office was located, and had made statements relating he “would do anything to not be sent back to prison.”
Turpin is being held at the Cherokee County Jail under a $250,00 bond. He is scheduled to appear in court on June 14. Investigation is still ongoing concerning the marijuana.
“I would like to thank the SBI’s Special Response Team for helping me get Mitchum off the streets,” Moody said. “I also want to thank the N.C. Sheriffs’ Association and all the sheriffs across the state for their help in getting this office up and running.”
