Home confinement, probation ordered for security guard who pleaded guilty to attempted arson

WEST JORDAN — A security guard who pleaded guilty to attempted arson for starting fires in the Cottonwood Heights business complex she was hired to protect will serve home confinement and probation time, a 3rd District Court judge ordered Monday.

Brittany Marie Burson, 23, of West Jordan, received 60 days of home confinement and 48 months of probation, with 157 days of credit for jail time served, defense attorney Cara Tangaro said. Burson was also ordered to follow through with mental health evaluations, which includes weekly counseling sessions, Tangaro said. She was also ordered to have no contact with the victims or the victims' properties.

Tangaro said both Judge Chelsea Koch and prosecutor Kimberly McKinnon Crandall are very experienced in criminal matters.

"We thought both the prosecutor and judge considered this case carefully and relied upon an expert's evaluation (psychological evaluation) in making a well-reasoned and fair sentence," Tangaro wrote in an email.

Tangaro also noted that the 60 days of home confinement was recommended by Adult Probation and Parole.

Burson was initially charged in 3rd District Court with four counts of aggravated arson, a first-degree felony, and making a threat of terrorism, a second-degree felony. The arson charges were later amended to three counts of aggravated arson, all first-degree felonies; and attempted aggravated arson, a second-degree felony, court records show.

The three aggravated arson charges were dropped in a plea deal, with Burson pleading guilty on Aug. 29 to attempted aggravated arson and threat of terrorism, according to court records.

On March 2, Unified firefighters were called to Cottonwood Corporate Center, 2825 E. Cottonwood Parkway, on a report of a bomb threat. The business complex consists of four six-story buildings. Burson claimed she had received a call from a man on her private security cellphone, and he said there was a bomb in one of the buildings, according to charging documents. The building was evacuated as fire crews investigated. No explosive devices were found.

On March 11, a fire was started in the women's bathroom in one of the buildings. Burson told a fire investigator who responded to the scene that a garbage can was lit on fire, the charges state. While still on scene, the property managers told police they found the remains of a second fire that had been set in a vacant part of another building.

On March 17, two more fires at the complex were reported in men's bathrooms on different floors. The next day, a fire was reported in a women's bathroom that was started in a trash can and spread to the wall.

As investigators continued to look into all the events, they discovered that the bomb threat called to the private security phone was made from Burson's personal cellphone, the charges allege.

"Further, a search of Burson's Google history revealed that she searched to see if restricted phone numbers could be discovered and about combustible materials for starting fires," according to the charges.

When questioned by investigators, Burson admitted to calling in the bomb threat but denied starting the fires, though she "did admit to being in the area" when each fire started, the charges say. She was arrested and later charged.

Related topics