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Authorities: He schemed to start a fire at his business. A firefighter was hurt putting out the flames

Christopher Hedgecock was sentenced to 30 years in prison with 20 to serve.

DOUGLASVILLE, Ga. — A man accused of scheming with an employee to start a fire at his business will now have to serve time in prison.

Christopher Hedgecock was sentenced to 30 years with 20 to serve in prison and ordered to pay $10,000 in restitution.

According to the Insurance and Safety Fire Commissioner's Office, Douglas County Fire Department responded to the fire at Town and Country Fabrics & Upholstery in the historical district of Douglasville on the morning of  Aug. 5, 2014.

“Numerous units responded to the fire that day and one firefighter was transported to the hospital with injuries sustained from fighting the fire," said Safety Fire Commissioner John F. King.

Credit: Office of Insurance & Safety Fire Commissioner
Christopher Hedgecock

“Mr. Hedgecock showed no remorse for his crime, nor any appreciation of the danger he placed the firefighters in,” said Brett Adams, the assistant district attorney who tried the case. “He is an unrepentant criminal, and Douglas County is safer with him in prison.”

Fire officials said in a follow-up investigation, authorities arrested one of the employees, Derek Rosa, in January of 2016. She pleaded guilty to an arson charge in 2018, but Hedgecock chose to go to trial.

After only a day of deliberation, the jury found Hedgecock guilty on three counts of arson and one count of insurance fraud.

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