CORNELIUS, N.C. -- The arrest of a serial arsonist has neighbors in Cornelius Glenridge community breathing a big sigh of relief.
Friday police arrested 31-year-old Robert Joseph Prevatte and charged him with four counts of arson and two counts of burning personal property.
All the fires happened on Meadow Crossing Lane in the Glenridge neighborhood from December 2010 to August 2011.
Prevatte lives on Meadow Crossing Lane directly across from two of the arson locations. Neighbors say the arsons started around the same time Prevatte moved in.
At least one of the homes had a family living in it. Another was for sale.
The arsons had neighbors wondering which house might be next, who's doing it and why.
I couldn't go away for the weekend because I have animals with no way to get out if our house caught on fire, neighbor Christie Bayne said.
I woke up to an alarm going off and a child screaming, said neighbor Julie Ballenger in May of this year after the third arson.
Ballenger vividly recalled the house directly across the street burning down.
I think there's something going on. I think it's too much of a coincidence and it makes me nervous, Ballenger said.
Something going on and too much of a coincidence ended up being prophetic.
That s because police say Prevatte is Ballenger's live in boyfriend.
Even though Prevatte is charged, the case is still open in part because police want to know what if anything Ballenger knew.
I knew it, said neighbor Kelly Dawes.
Neighbors say after the first arson, Prevatte was the only neighbor who wasn't talking about it.
After the second arson, neighbors say he wouldn't shut up about it.
It was just out of place. Something was off about the situation, Bayne said.
Another thing that peaked their interest about Prevatte: A nearly perfect rectangle cut out of the blinds in a second floor window of his house.
Like maybe a good peep hole for somebody to look out, Bayne said.
The thrill of watching, I assume, Dawes said.
Police don't know if Prevatte watched his alleged fires burn or not. They're not saying how the fires started, or what evidence led to Prevatte's arrest.
Neighbors are glad this ten month-long mystery is over.
People were talking about leaving, moving away. Some people were having babies and they don't want to bring their kids into this neighborhood. It's not that kind of neighborhood. So now people can sleep at night, Bayne said.
Total damage for the four arsons is estimated around $450,000.
Cornelius Police thank neighbors for their tips.
