A Georgia man was arrested Thursday in Cherokee County on an Arson 2nd Degree charge.

Thirty-three year old Joshua Troy Bagley of Hoschton, Georgia – located approximately 50 miles outside of Atlanta – was booked into the Cherokee County Detention Center just after 2:00pm and released shortly before 9:00 that night after making his bond which had been set at $75,000.

On Friday, January 22nd Cherokee County Sheriff’s Office Deputies responded to a report of a suspicious person on County Road 183 near Arrington’s Chapel and they arrived on scene to find the church burning.  The suspect was soon located by deputies, and was taken to a local hospital for treatment – investigators obtained a warrant for arson with Bagley to be arrested upon his release from the hospital.

A person commits the crime of Arson in the 2nd Degree, if he or she, “intentionally damages a building by starting or maintaining a fire or causing an explosion.”  Arson in the 2nd Degree is a Class B felony – with a possible sentence of anywhere between two and twenty years if found guilty in a court of law.

Sheriff Jeff Shaver thanked the State Fire Marshal’s Office, Spring Garden Fire Department, and the Cherokee County EMA for their assistance.