Updated Jun 12, 2016
INDEPENDENCE, IOWA — An Independence couple have been arrested on arson and fraud charges after a lengthy investigation into a house fire in 2014.
Brandon W. Dorsey, 31, and Jessi K. Dorsey, 27, were charged Friday and arrested Saturday for second-degree arson (Class C felony) and insurance fraud-presenting false information (Class D felony).
They charges stem from a fire Sept. 22, 2014, at 302 Eighth Ave. N.E., in Independence. The fire was reported about 8:20 p.m. and fought by the Independence Fire Department.
The state Fire Marshal’s Office, Independence Police, Independence Fire Department and Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation assisted with the investigation, and after months of probing it was determined the fire to be incendiary in nature, intentionally set by the two.
The two are accused of filing an insurance claim after that fire.
The two were in the Buchanan County Jail Saturday evening on $25,000 cash-only bonds.