Man Guilty Of Arson That Could Have Gutted Downtown Douglasville

DOUGLAS COUNTY, GA -- A man has been found guilty of a 2014 arson on Broad Street that injured a firefighter and could have been the end of downtown Douglasville.

On Monday, May 6, Christopher Hedgecock was found guilty of three counts of arson in the first degree, and one count of insurance fraud, after a week-long trial. Superior Court Judge Cynthia Adams presided over the trial.

Sentencing has been scheduled for May 22, at 1:30 p.m.

In the early hours of August 5, 2014, an employee and co-defendant of Hedgecock's, who took responsibility for his actions by pleading guilty and agreeing to testify at trial, set a fire in the basement of Town & Country Fabrics & Upholstery at 6660 Broad Street.

In response to the fire, nearly the entire Douglas County Fire Department responded to the scene, trying to control the blaze and keep it from spreading to the rest of downtown Douglasville. During the course of fighting the fire, one firefighter had to be transported to the hospital with injuries.

Fire investigators Steve Pate and Mickey Hunt spent two years investigating the arson. Fire investigators discovered that Hedgecock’s business was performing poorly, and that the he was spending as much money as he had coming in. Additionally, the Hedgecock was being foreclosed and evicted from the premises by Hamilton State Bank, for being $17,500 in debt. The day he was foreclosed on, he contacted his insurance agent at Nationwide, and increased his insurance policy from $50,000 to $600,000. This occurred only months before the arson. Hedgecock tried to explain this by stating he was “poor with money management.” Hedgecock took the stand in his defense, but the jury rejected his attempts to explain away the evidence, the DA's Office said in a press release.

Hedgecock’s co-defendant and employee testified that Hedgecock told him to set the fire, because the business was performing poorly, and stated that Hedgecock would pay him with money and a new vehicle if he set the arson. Other witnesses corroborated the co-defendant/employee’s testimony, with witnesses stating that Hedgecock had told them about the arson and how he was going to have his employee do it.

The case was tried by Assistant District Attorney Brett Adams. Adams, who said, "This careless act could have cost numerous people their lives. Because of the Defendant's selfish actions numerous businesses and people were impacted negatively."

Douglas County District Attorney Ryan Leonard applauded the verdict and said, “This could have cost firefighters and the citizens of Douglas County their lives and their livelihood had it not been contained to just the one building.”