UPDATE: Suspect arrested, charged in string of Springfield car fires, house fire

 Cody Linder, Courtesy Greene County Jail
Cody Linder, Courtesy Greene County Jail (KY3)
Published: Oct. 21, 2019 at 8:42 AM CDT
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Police arrested a man wanted in connection with a string of arson cases in Springfield.

According to online jail listings, Cody Linder, 34, was booked into the Greene County Jail at 1:54 p.m. Monday. He's being held on a $50,000 bond.

No court date has been set.

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A man has been charged in connection with a series of car fires and one house fire in the area of W. Ildereen, earlier this month.

Cody N. Linder, 34, has been charged with arson in the first degree.

According to a probable cause statement, firefighters were dispatched to the 800 block of Ildereen for a report of a house fire on October 2, 2019. Fire crews arrived to find a house fire and two nearby vehicle fires.

A report of a car fire at the Ildereen location the previous night was not investigated by a fire marshal.

A fire marshal investigating the subsequent house fire noticed a strong smell of gasoline on the exterior of the house near a window air conditioning unit.

The report says the house had six people living in it at the time of the fire.

The residents told investigators they were asleep when the smoke alarm woke them up. They found a fire in the living room and got everyone out of the house.

The residents told investigators that Cody Linder, the estranged husband of one of the people living in the house may have started the fires.

Neighbors say they witnessed a man matching Linder's description in the neighborhood at the time of the fires.

Investigators inspected the car fires and determined they were both set between the hood and the windshield of the vehicles.

A nearby home security camera also captured video of a vehicle matching the one belonging to Linder near one of the cars at the time of the incident. The video showed a male getting out of the car and walking to a nearby vehicle that then erupted into flames.

The fires were reported within 13 minutes of each other, according to the probable cause statement.

Each of the cars belonged to people living in the house of Linder's estranged wife.

A charge of first degree arson is punishable by up to 15 years in prison.