Authorities say the owner of a restaurant in Sumter County, S.C., burned down his business on purpose and collected nearly $700,000 in insurance money.
Sumter County deputies told media outlets that 57-year-old Ronald Cantey was arrested Monday about seven months after the fire at The Compass restaurant near Turbeville
Investigators say evidence shows Cantey was at the restaurant about five minutes before the fire was reported.
Cantey said after the restaurant burned in July that he put his heart and soul into the business for five years and was devastated.
Cantey was charged with second-degree arson, making a false insurance claim and burning personal property to defraud an insurer. He was in jail awaiting a bond hearing and it wasn’t known if he had an attorney.
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