INVERNESS - A 33-year-old Inverness woman was charged with arson of an occupied structure early Tuesday after she was accused of igniting a child's sock and tossing it under the bed of her live-in ex-boyfriend, who was asleep.
Johnnie Brown, 36, told a Citrus County sheriff's deputy that he woke up to the smell of smoke, found the sock partially on fire underneath his bed and quickly extinguished it, an arrest report said. He got out of bed and saw Talia Lynette Hill standing in the living room area with a knife in her hand.
She left, the report said, and he contacted authorities. Hill denied starting the fire, but admitted to having the knife in her hand for protection, the report said. All occupants were inside the residence asleep when Hill came home just before midnight. Hill remained at the Citrus County jail Tuesday evening with bail set at $2,500.
