What started as a domestic incident led to arson charges against a Gainesville man, according to Hall County authorities.
Christopher Lee Betts, 31, was arrested on an aggravated assault charge after he allegedly choked his mother Friday, Hall sheriff’s spokesman Derreck Booth said. The incident happened in the 3200 block of Hall Drive inside a tent on Betts’ property, Booth said.
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Investigators determined Betts grabbed his 52-year-old mother by the throat, “choking her and holding her to the ground,” Booth said.
“He also covered her mouth with his other hand,” he said.
During the investigation, the Hall County Fire Marshal’s Office also learned information about fires at an abandoned house on Dana Drive in August 2019 and at two different addresses on Hillcrest Drive in May, according to department spokesman Zach Brackett. An abandoned home, two abandoned single-wide mobile homes and an outbuilding were destroyed in the May fires, Brackett said.
Fire officials believe the blazes were intentionally set and charged Betts with arson in each case. It is not clear what information led to the charges.
Betts was taken to the Hall County Jail, where he remains with no bond.
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