Police have arrested a 37-year-old Bloomington man on charges that he set fire to his mother’s South Rogers Street house April 21, leaving her in critical condition at a hospital and the residence destroyed.
Officers arrived minutes after the fire was reported, heard screams for help, kicked in a door, found the 54-year-old woman on the floor surrounded by flames and carried her outside.
The blaze at 2012 S. Rogers St. was reported at 11:50 p.m. Tuesday night. Investigators were still at the scene, just north of the Citgo gas station at Rogers Street and Rockport Road, at noon the next day.
Police tracked the suspect to a motel in Mitchell, got a search warrant and arrested him at 12:30 Wednesday afternoon.
Shandor Jackson was taken to the Bloomington Police Department for an interview then booked into the Monroe County Jail on four felonies: attempted murder, aggravated battery, arson and vehicle theft.
A Bloomington Police Department news release said the home, where Jackson lived with his mother, was fully engulfed with flames when police and firefighters arrived.
“The woman was severely injured and was unable to walk or move on her own,” the release said. She was taken to IU Health Bloomington Hospital, then transferred to an Indianapolis hospital for treatment.
Police used video from controversial Flock license-plate reading cameras in multiple counties to locate the victim’s tan Hyundai, which was missing from the residence.
The car was tracked by Flock cameras in Greene, Orange and Lawrence counties. Investigators used the data to narrow their search and located the car at a motel in Mitchell.
“Of note, a Flock license-plate-reading camera located in close proximity to the scene of the crime was unable to be used to assist in the investigation,” the BPD news release said, “due to an act of criminal mischief that resulted in cables being sliced and the camera being spray-painted.”
During the April 22 Bloomington Press Club meeting, Mayor Kerry Thomson confirmed Flock footage had helped investigators track the suspect in the fire’s aftermath.
The investigation is ongoing.
Contact H-T reporter Laura Lane at llane@heraldt.com or 812-318-5967.
This article originally appeared on The Herald-Times: Bloomington man charged in house fire that critically injured his mom
Reporting by Laura Lane, The Herald-Times / The Herald-Times
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
