Man Accused of Setting Fire to Ex-Stepfather’s Home

LONGVIEW — Investigators said a Longview man set fire last week to a house belonging to his ex-stepfather. Longview Fire Marshal criminal investigator Bert Scott said Cody Rodgers, 20, started the fire shortly after 9 p.m. March 15 at a residence in the 700 block of E. Lynnwood Lane. KETK and the Longview News-Journal report Rodgers, 20, remained in the Gregg County Jail on charges of arson and assault of a public servant. Investigators said the blaze pattern indicates the fire was started in the living room.

Shortly before the fire was reported, Charles Collins received a text message from his ex-wife’s phone number stating that his property was going to be set on fire that night, according to a report filed Friday with the Gregg County District Attorney’s Office. Firefighters extinguished the fire and searched the home. No residents were in the house at the time of the blaze, but three cats were found dead and a dog was missing. Collins arrived soon after and told officials his ex-stepson, Rodgers, had set his property on fire “a few years prior,” Scott said.

The next day, an off-duty Longview firefighter saw Rodgers walking down the driveway of the Lynnwood residence, Scott said. When asked what he was doing, Rodgers told the firefighter he was returning a dog as instructed by his mother, Scott said. Investigators also interviewed employees of a convenience store about a mile from the site of the house fire, believed to be the location where the the 911 call was made to report the blaze. Scott said Rodgers, who had a dog with him, was seen there using a cellphone. It wasn’t immediately clear what led to the assault charge.