Newberry woman charged with arson for setting fire next to gas pump

Staff report

NEWBERRY, Fla. – Ashley Lachendra Quamecia Hall, 45, has been charged with arson for allegedly setting a piece of paper on fire and leaving it next to a gas pump.

At about 10 a.m. on July 26, an Alachua County Sheriff’s Deputy responded to the Circle K at 45 SW 250th Street, where an employee showed him surveillance video of an incident that had occurred at 2:21 p.m. on July 25.

The video reportedly shows Hall arriving at the gas station in a black Nissan Altima and standing in front of a gas pump; she gets into her car, leaving the door open, and then moves around inside the vehicle before grabbing a light-colored piece of paper and then turning toward the car door before closing the door and driving away. The deputy reported that Hall’s window was down, providing a clear view of her inside the vehicle.

The deputy reported that the video showed a small fire at the base of the gas pump as soon as Hall drove away.

Hall was arrested on July 27 at her residence and charged with battery, false imprisonment, and resisting an officer without violence after she allegedly prevented a family member from leaving the home when deputies ordered everyone to come outside; deputies eventually had to enter her home to take her into custody. She was also arrested on a warrant from a March incident in which she allegedly kicked deputies who were attempting to arrest her on a different warrant.

Hall is currently charged with first-degree arson, criminal attempt to commit a first-degree felony, domestic false imprisonment, resisting an officer with violence, domestic battery, and two counts of resisting an officer without violence. Judge Meshon Rawls set bail at $29,000 before the arson charges were filed, and Judge Olin Shinholser ordered her held without bail on the arson charge, pending a hearing on a motion from the State Attorney’s Office to hold her without bail until trial; if the judge denies the motion, bail will be set at that hearing.

Articles about arrests are based on reports from law enforcement agencies. The charges listed are taken from the arrest report and/or court records and are only accusations. All suspects are innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.