On Tuesday December 7, 2010, a teenage male was booked into the Brown County Jail on Arson charges.
According to the Brownwood Fire Marshal’s office, 17-year-old Colten Glen Tibbitts, turned himself in Tuesday afternoon on a warrant that had been issued for his arrest earlier that morning.
Brownwood Fire Marshal Buddy Preston stated in a press release that Tibbitts has cooperated fully with the investigation including a written confession of multiple fires and has been a person of interest for some time. With new information an arrest warrant was issued and the subject turned himself in the release stated. Tibbitts was booked into the Brown County Jail and released on $5000 bond.
According to the Complaint filed against Tibbitts, there was reason to believe that Tibbitts, on or about December 4th had intent to damage or destroy vegetation or a fence on open space land located on county road 201 and started a fire by “lighting a match and igniting vegetation, and said fire was not part of the controlled burning of open-space land”.
The Complaint further states that on December 4, 2010 the Brookesmith and Winchell Volunteer Fire Departments responded to a grass fire located on county road 201, that the fire was investigated and the cause determined to be arson. Preston along with Brian Lundy, an investigator from the Brown County Sheriff’s Office interviewed Tibbitts who had been developed as a suspect in this case as well as other cases from the past few months according to the Complaint. Tibbitts gave a voluntary statement confessing his involvement and how he started the fires the Complaint states.
Tibbetts was a member of the Brookesmith Volunteer Fire Department.
