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Saturday January 13, 2007

Soot-stained man charged with arson
By Matt Swearengin

Senior staff writer

DURANT - Charges have been filed against a man accused of setting fire to an unoccupied house east of Durant.

Hugo Jaurez, aka Suigo or Yugo, 29, was charged with second-degree arson for the Jan. 2 blaze that burned a house at 1118 Risner Road.

The house was fully engulfed when Philadelphia and Roberta volunteer firefighters arrived. The house had not been lived in for several years, according to the sheriff's office, and it did not have electricity.

Durant firefighters were dispatched to assist in putting out the fire. The owner, Mary Hall, had been using the house for storage, according to deputy sheriff's reports.

Sheriff's Investigator John Bates said that Jaurez was spotted at the scene before the fire and that he possessed a driver's license that had been taken from the house.

The suspect claimed he found the driver's license on the road, according to Bates. He was picked up for questioning the day the house burned. Bates asked Jaurez if he had started a fire to stay warm, but he denied being at the home.

“He had soot and ash on him,” Bates said. “He had been seen in the house before the fire and smelled like smoke, so it was pretty easy for me to charge him.”

According to the sheriff's office, Jaurez is under investigation for being an illegal immigrant and faces deportation upon completion of the criminal proceedings.

Jaurez also is charged with knowingly concealing stolen property for possessing stolen Social Security cards, birth certificates and a credit card, according to court papers. He remains in jail.

A second-degree arson conviction carries a maximum penalty of 25 years in prison.