Reidsville man convicted of setting fires

A 28-year-old man charged in March 2007 with setting several fires, including one at an Islamic Prayer Center, was sentenced to three months in jail and given a 15-year suspended sentence.

Thursday, Rockingham County Superior Court convicted Robert William Branch, of 108 Deer Trail Road in Reidsville, of intending to burn a church, setting fire to woodland and grassland, setting fire to an uninhabited structure, burning personal property, possession of marijuana and possession of drug paraphernalia.

On the night of March 26, 2007, the Yanceyville, Monroeton and Williamsburg volunteer fire departments responded to several intentionally set fires near Barnes Street. One was an abandoned house, one a gas station, one a trash bin, another the Islamic Prayer Center, and three others were wood and brush fires.

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