A grand jury also secretly indicted a Chillicothe woman in a separate incident where she allegedly tried to hit two people with a car.
CHILLICOTHE - A Jefferson Avenue woman was arrested this week on secret indictments related to a downtown arson fire last year and a separate incident where she allegedly tried to hit two people with a car.
Ashley B. Gibson, 33, is facing one count of aggravated arson and two counts of felonious assault, all second-degree felonies, after a grand jury secretly indicted her on Friday.
The arson charge relates to a Nov. 21, 2017, fire at 23 S. Paint St. which housed Paint. The Art of Hair and two apartments. There were people in the salon and in one apartment when the fire was set, but all were able to escape uninjured.
"(Investigators) basically had someone come forward and say Ashley was bragging about setting this fire," said Todd Bost, an investigator with the Ross County Prosecutors Office.
Gibson was identified as a potential suspect early on because her ex-boyfriend lived in one of the apartments and a neighbor reported hearing the two arguing a lot, Bost said.
A witness also reported seeing a truck pull up to the building shortly before the fire which was tracked to Jean Ann Clemmons, 45, of Anderson Station Road, Bost said. Clemmons, who investigators noted was Facebook friends with Gibson, also was indicted on Friday with a second-degree felony count of complicity to aggravated arson for allegedly driving Gibson that evening, Bost said.
The pair of felonious assault charges against Gibson relate to an incident with a different ex-boyfriend on Aug. 1. The ex was walking west on Main Street near Ross Street with a woman when Gibson allegedly yelled at them as she drove past and then made a u-turn, Bost said. A passenger with Gibson allegedly got out of the car and tried to get the ex to fight but he refused.
After the passenger got back in the car, Gibson allegedly squealed the car's tires, drove onto the sidewalk, and attempted to strike the ex and the woman he was with, Bost said. However, she stopped mere inches from hitting them due to a light post, Bost added.
Gibson and Clemmons are both set to appear for an initial pre-trial in the cases on Dec. 12.