Two in Lake County Florida Charged with Arson

April 6, 2010

State officials allege that two Florida men conspired to burn down the home of one of the men who was behind in his mortgage payments.

Florida CFO and State Fire Marshal Alex Sink announced the arrests of Lake County residents Bruce A. Tomon, 40, and Chad L. Sines, 40, after they conspired to hire an individual to burn down Tomon’s home. While reasons for the arson are still under investigation, it is alleged that Tomon was having difficulty making his mortgage payments and was looking to relieve the debt with an insurance claim on the property.

State investigators and the Lake County Sheriff’s Office were tipped off by a witness that Tomon wanted his house to be set on fire. Undercover detectives caught Sines on tape providing explicit details to the witness on how to set the home on fire, and also offering a $1,000 pay-off to commit the arson.

Sines and Tomon were arrested and booked into the Lake County Jail on five separate counts each of: conspiracy to commit arson; burn to defraud; grand theft; arson to structure; and false/fraudulent insurance claims. If convicted, each defendant could face up to 60 years in prison.

Source: Bureau of Fire and Arson Investigations