Man charged with arson after house in Lilburn

Hung H Le (Gwinnett County Fire and Emergency Services)

A man who showed up at a Lilburn area home with two cans of gas and a lighter with the intent of setting a fire has been arrested.

Hung H Le, 49, of Lilburn, was charged with first-degree arson without the owner's consent and first-degree burglary with intent to commit theft, both felonies.

The arrest stems from an incident on the morning of July 31 at a house in the 1000 block of Indian Trail Lilburn Road near Warners Trail. Gwinnett County firefighters who were less than a mile north near Steve Reynolds Boulevard spotted the smoke and went to investigate.

(Gwinnett County Fire and Emergency Services)

When they arrived, firefighters said they found a previously burned residential was on fire. Additional crews soon responded.

Firefighters were able to make quick work and put out the fire.

The house had been long abandoned and no one was inside.

Fire investigators said there was previous damage to the structure from a fire three weeks prior.

(Gwinnett County Fire and Emergency Services)

"While firefighters were initially stretching a hose line to extinguish the fire, a subject on a bicycle with two plastic gas cans arrived at the property and made incriminating statements about the cause of the fire," a statement from the Gwinnett County Fire and Emergency Services reads in part. "A fire investigator was requested to respond to the scene to investigate. Upon the investigator’s arrival, the subject was interviewed and admitted to not knowing the owners of the home and starting the fire with a gasoline and a lighter that was still on his person. The subject denied involvement in the fire that occurred on the morning of July 9, 2021. With the evidence and statements provided by the subject, he was taken into custody by the Gwinnett Fire Investigators and transported to the Gwinnett County Jail by Gwinnett County Police."

As of Friday evening, he remained in jail, being held without bond.

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