Carrier Mills woman charged with arson

Maria Belle Brand, 51, 708 N. Main St., Carrier Mills, was arrested Thursday following a series of bizarre events involving a dispute between neighbors.

Brand was arrested by Carrier Mills Police Officer Billy Duncan at about 4:45 a.m. Thursday morning on initial charges of attempted arson, criminal damage to property, reckless conduct and a hate crime.

Since then, Brand has been formally charged by the Saline County State's Attorney's office with one count of arson involving personal property.

According to Duncan, Brand set the events in motion when she called dispatch herself at about 4:20 a.m. to make a loud music complaint against her neighbor, Byron Godsey. When Duncan arrived, he was unable to hear any music or any other general noise, but did observe Brand standing near Godsey's vehicle at 710 N. Main St., he said. She then came around the fence and entered her residence.

At about 4:30 a.m., Duncan returned to the 700 block of North Main Street and still did not hear any loud music. However, he said he did see Brand walk out her front door and into Godsey's yard. He watched her then use a cigarette lighter to ignite yard waste in the bed of Godsey's truck, he said.

Duncan jumped out of his vehicle and intercepted Brand as she was walking away, then called for assistance from the Carrier Mills Fire Department. At that point, Godsey ran out of his residence and began trying to extinguish the fire.

Duncan said when he asked why Brand set Godsey's truck on fire, she said "they won't give me my stuff back." Duncan noted a strong odor of alcohol on Brand's breath, he said. She told Duncan Godsey had a Global Positioning System device that was hers, which Godsey denied.

Godsey added that at around 2 a.m. earlier that night Brand beat on his door and when he answered she asked for "something to smoke," according to Duncan. Godsey told Duncan that he told Brand he didn't have anything for her, which prompted Brand to call Godsey a racial slur and a liar, which led to the initial hate crime charge, Duncan said.

At that point, Duncan placed Brand under arrest.

At around 4:46 a.m., firefighters arrived to douse the debris in the bed of Godsey's truck to ensure the fire was completely extinguished.

After an initial hearing, probable cause was found to detain Brand and her bond was set at $5,000 cash. As of Tuesday morning, she remained held at the Saline County Detention Center.