PULASKI COUNTY, Ky. (LEX 18) — A woman confessed to police that she had started a fire that destroyed a home on Thursday in Pulaski County and she also confessed to setting her Harlan County apartment on fire, according to an arrest citation.
The citation reveals that 64-year-old Renee Whitehead is charged with second-degree arson and first-degree criminal mischief.
According to the citation, officials responded to a home on Soard Street in Ferguson just before 3:00 p.m. on Thursday for reports of a structure fire.
When arriving on the scene, police say "the fire was coming through the roof." A nearby neighbor told police that the homeowners were not home and that a woman, identified as Whitehead, had been staying there with her son, the citation read.
After searching the area, the citation states that Whitehead was "found hiding behind a residence," with her dog.
According to the citation, investigators determined that a "debris pile in the backyard had been on fire and that the fire had started in the kitchen area of the home." Further, investigators say that "evidence showed that the structure damage revealed the fire was ignited within the home."
Whitehead, according to the citation, was taken to the Ferguson Police Department and "confessed to setting the home on fire by using the stove in the kitchen to light a piece of cardboard, then set some pizza boxes in the floor on fire."
The citation notes that she confessed to "setting her apartment in Harlan County on fire last week."
Whitehead is booked in the Pulaski County Detention Center.
