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EAGLE MOUNTAIN — A woman involved in a lawsuit against Saratoga Springs and its police department is now a suspect in a fire that destroyed a home in Eagle Mountain, according to court documents.
Chantelle Desiree Jones, 45, was charged on Oct. 9 with theft of a rental vehicle, a second-degree felony. A warrant was issued for her arrest, which remained outstanding as of Friday. Charging documents call Jones a "suspect" in an arson investigation, and prosecutors believe she was trying to flee the state in the rental vehicle, noting in their charges that "there is substantial evidence based on the statement of (the) Unified Fire Authority police officer ... that (Jones) committed a residential arson in rural Utah County" and that she "appears to be aware of the consequences of her actions as she has fled the state."
No criminal charges have been filed in connection with the fire.
"Mrs. Jones adamantly denies these allegations," her attorney Rachael Whitaker said in a statement to KSL.com. "She believes both cases are examples of further police misconduct and harassment directed toward her. Mrs. Jones maintains her innocence and looks forward to her day in court."
On Aug. 28, a fire was reported at 3873 E. South Pass Cove in Eagle Mountain. The home was a complete loss, according to the homeowner.
At the time of the fire, the home was being leased to Jones, her husband and their two children. However, according to several search warrant affidavits, the homeowners "stated that Chantelle had been difficult to work with from the moment the lease started."
Due to those difficulties, the owners opted not to renew Jones' lease, which upset her, court documents state. The Jones were supposed to be out of the house by Aug. 28.
A doorbell camera recorded Chantelle Jones leaving the residence sometime between 3:12 a.m. and 4:12 a.m. that morning. The exterior lights of the house went off sometime between 4:12 a.m. and 4:54 a.m., which is the same time the fire is believed to have started, the affidavits state.
Investigators determined that the fire started in the basement near the electrical panel. However, it did not appear that "there was enough combustible material in that area for an electrically-caused fire to have been the cause of the fire," a search warrant states. "(The investigator) was unable to determine an exact cause of the fire, but due to the lease ending the same day as the fire, Chantelle leaving only a few hours before the fire, and the house being less than 10 years old with no previous electrical issues, this fire was determined to be suspicious."
In September, an investigator hired by the insurance company "stated his professional opinion was that the fire could not have started without human involvement," according to one affidavit.
As the investigation progressed, the Unified Fire Authority arson investigator assigned to the case learned that a neighbor had made a Reddit post "about having neighbors with weird occurrences," the affidavit says. "She stated she had posted about Chantelle and how there were strange occurrences that followed her everywhere she lived."
The Reddit post did not mention Jones by name. But the neighbor "received numerous messages on Reddit from other users who were asking if her neighbor was Chantelle and telling her their stories about their dealings with Chantelle," investigators wrote in the court documents.
The investigator looked into other past incidents and learned Jones was involved in a crash and vehicle fire in January 2021. But the State Fire Marshal's Office determined the fire was not a result of the crash and the cause of the fire was listed as undetermined, according to the warrants.
In September, investigators from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives looking at the Eagle Mountain fire determined it was not electrically-caused and an air purifier that Jones claimed was plugged in at the time the fire started, was not.
"Therefore this case was confirmed to be arson," the affidavit states, adding that the investigator believes "the fire was intentionally set."
On Oct. 8, investigators learned that Jones "had fled the state," according to charging documents filed the next day in her rental car theft case. Jones had allegedly asked the rental car company if she could return her vehicle in Phoenix, but her request was denied because the car was already four days overdue at that point.
The car was "pinged" and determined to be in Arizona and the rental car company wanted it listed as stolen, according to the charges. An officer with the Arizona Department of Public Safety located the vehicle in Wickenburg and stopped it due to it being listed on a national police database as stolen. Jones was taken into custody and transported to the Yavapai County Jail. She was also charged with theft in Yavapai County, Arizona, for being in possession of a car listed as stolen. However, the no bail arrest warrant from Utah didn't reach authorities in Arizona until just after Jones had been released from the jail.
Jones is currently involved in a federal civil lawsuit against the Saratoga Springs Police Department, claiming that she was sexually harassed by a Saratoga Springs police officer and then run out of town by his department and city leaders who tried to cover up for his actions. The next hearing in that case is scheduled for Jan. 15.
