A Pickens County restaurant owner accused of setting fire to his own business has been linked to the arson of another area restaurant, authorities said Monday.
Tyler Suarez, 23, was already facing charges in connection with the blaze at Bee’s Home Cookin’ on Nov. 5. Investigators have since linked the Jasper man to a fire in the early morning hours of Oct. 6 at Mary Anne’s Country Cooking.
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Suarez is one of six men implicated across the two arson cases in a wide-ranging investigation, according to the Pickens County Sheriff’s Office. The remaining five suspects were arrested over the past week.
The sheriff’s office began collaborating with the Jasper Fire Department and state fire investigators while looking into recent thefts in Pickens. They determined that Suarez conspired with four others to set fire to Mary Anne’s Country Cooking, investigators said in a news release.
The business owner, along with 20-year-old Miguel Suarez of Jasper, 18-year-old William Alex Cannady of Ellijay, 25-year-old Nicholas Buchanan of Jasper, and 18-year-old Charles Cole Wilson of Talking Rock, are all facing charges of first-degree arson in connection with the blaze.
Buchanan and Cannady were previously arrested and charged in an earlier burglary and are facing related charges, according to the sheriff’s office.
Initially, only Tyler Suarez was charged in the fire at his restaurant. Investigators now believe he conspired with two others, Hank Wilson, 46, of Talking Rock, and Wilson’s son, Cole.
As a result of the investigation, both father and son are facing first-degree arson charges in the fire at Bee’s Home Cookin’.
“It is amazing how well this investigation worked with the men and women from each of these agencies working around the clock to bring closure to these two cases,” Pickens County Sheriff Donnie Craig said in a statement. “Partnerships with these other agencies have continued to help us serve our citizens with the best possible law enforcement services.”
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