CROSSVILLE, Ill. - The brother of Sheriff Doug Maier is back in the news again, only this time, not the headlines...instead, that honor goes to his ex, Rebecca, who had something of a meltdown last week and just about burned herself up in the process.
In a police report that's heavily-redacted (likely only because it is an ongoing investigation), the White County Sheriff's Department noted that the incident occurred in broad daylight Sunday, December 30, at 1:17 p.m.
At that time, dispatch had received a 911 call from Anthony Pass in regards to smoke coming from a residence at 404 Fourth Street in Crossville. Deputy Randy Graves was sent to respond.
There, Graves spoke to the sheriff's brother, Brad Maier, who advised that his ex-wife Rebecca was still in the residence, and had lit the curtains on fire in multiple places in an attempt to "burn the residence down."
Maier said his ex-wife was still inside and had locked the doors, but he believed he'd put out all the curtain fires before exiting the residence. He also stated that he didn't know if she'd started any more fires inside the residence while he was outside.
Graves went to the front door located on the west side of the trailer, where he could smell the odor of smoke coming from the residence. The door was locked, so Graves kicked it, at which time it opened slightly; he was able to break the lock from the door jamb at that point. Even at that point, the door wouldn't open, as there was a wooden kitchen chair against the doorknob. Graves reports that he kicked the door four times before he was able to break the legs from the bottom of the wooden chair, gaining access to the residence.
When he entered, he found the place filled with smoke, which Graves described as "very heavy." He went down the hallway and located Rebecca standing in the hallway near the bedroom, whereupon he grabbed her and removed her from the residence.
Past all the redaction in the report that followed, it was noted that White County Ambulance Service had arrived, and checked Rebecca. The Crossville Fire Department opened all doors and windows and placed exhaust fans in the residence to evacuate the smoke, but didn't have to put out any fire, as Brad Maier had put the fires out with a fire extinguisher.
Past even more redaction (which no doubt would probably be Rebecca's statements to authorities, as well as probably Brad's), it was pointed out that Rebecca was arrested for Aggravated Arson due to a person being inside the residence while she was allegedly trying to burn it down. She also, according to the report filed, caught a Class 4 felony Domestic Battery charge, as well as a misdemeanor Disorderly Conduct. Documents show she's being held at the county jail, but the website doesn't portray this, and Disclosure had to FOIA for a mug.
The Maiers have been in the pages of this publication before, including Brad's front-pager when he was charged with meth in Richland County as well as when he caught a DUI locally.
The ex-missus Maier (they were successfully divorced in October of 2017, finally) made the cut in this article about a report of drunk and disorderly.
She's set for arraignment on the arson charge on the 14th of this month.