Insurance and Fire Commissioner John W. Oxendine and Coweta County Sheriff Michael S. Yeager said a suspect has been arrested and charged with one count of first- degree arson in a Nov. 2004 fire that damaged a house under construction in Coweta County.

Paul Michael Libri, 33, is a “person of interest” in a string of more than a dozen arson fires that damaged or destroyed new or under-construction houses in Coweta County.

Oxendine said the suspect lived in Coweta in proximity of the majority of the fires before he moved from the area in October 2005.

Libri has been a suspect in previous arson fires, Oxendine said. He is currently being held in the Coweta County Jail.

Oxendine’s Arson Unit is working the case with the Coweta County Sheriff’s Office, Newnan Police and Fire Departments, the Georgia Bureau of Investigation, and the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms.

Oxendine is asking anyone with information about any of the Coweta fires to call his Arson Hotline at 1-800-282-5804. Rewards of up to $10,000 are given for information leading to the arrest and conviction of an arsonist. Calls are taken 24 hours a day; callers can choose to remain anonymous. The Commissioner’s Office and the Georgia Arson Control Board, Inc., sponsor the Georgia Arson Control Reward Program and the hotline.

First-degree arson is a felony with a penalty of one to 20 years in prison and/or a fine of up to $50,000.

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