PATTEN — A local man has been charged with violation of probation and remained jailed Tuesday afternoon after a suspicious fire destroyed his tractor-trailer and a four-door sedan.
“It is being investigated as an arson,” Sgt. Scott Richardson of the state fire marshal’s office said Tuesday of the fire that destroyed both vehicles parked in the driveway of Ronald Kaelin Sr.’s home on Main Street in Patten on Sunday.
No one was injured, but both vehicles were destroyed, Richardson said.
Kaelin, 58, was charged Monday afternoon with violation of probation. While Kaelin is being investigated for arson, he was cited for violation of probation for allegedly stealing cigarettes from a store in Sherman, according to Richardson.
Information about what crime Kaelin was on probation for in the first place was not immediately available on Tuesday.
