Greenville Woman Charged With Arson For Burning Her Own Home

A 46-year-old Greenville woman has been arrested for allegedly intentionally setting fire to her Wade Hampton area home and collecting insurance benefits. 

On July 27, Paula Rose called 911 and reported that three male subjects were inside her garage at her 136 Riley Smith Road home attempting to gain entry to a gun safe. Rose reportedly told dispatchers that one of the male subjects saw her inside her home through a window. Rose ran to the rear of her home while still on the phone with dispatch and hid in a back room, telling the 911 dispatch operator that she heard noises outside of her home, and that she looked out and saw that her house was on fire.

Rose was able to make it out of the home unharmed. Deputies with the Greenville County Sheriff's Office and investigators with the Wade Hampton Fire Department were dispatched to the scene. There, investigators, led by their accelerant-detecting K9, became aware of ignitable liquid in the fire debris. Once SLED completed testing on samples taken from the fire scene, investigators concluded Rose's story was untrue. Rose did receive insurance benefits from her claim with State Farm, according to the GCSO. She was arrested Tuesday on charges of burning personal property to defraud insurer, third-degree arson, making a false insurance claim to obtain benefits for fire or explosion and filing a false police report of a felony. 

Rose was still in jail Thursday morning on $10,000 bond.