Man Charged With Vehicular Assault, Injury To Child

Constable Kent Layton found clothing burning on the porch and bleach poured on everything in a Duck Cove house on Friday when he answered a request for help.

Layton said a woman came to his office and wanted to know what could be done to help her friend. He quoted the woman as stating her friend had just called her from Killeen and said her husband had pushed her out of the car and wanted to know what she could do.

Layton said he ran a radio check on the man that "came back with a blue." The blue designation indicated a parole violation that the constable said was in connection with burglary of a habitation.

"Based on that, I went over to Duck Cove where his wife lived," he said. He said the Bell County Sheriff’s Office had notified Hunt County Sheriff’s Office that the suspect "was headed toward your county."

"I went over to see if he had made it there," Layton said.

"He had allegedly piled all of her stuff on the porch and put an accelerant on it and set it on fire," Layton said. "He had allegedly poured bleach everywhere in the house."

The constable said the fire department and first responders were notified of the fire.

Layton said he located the suspect at the traffic signal in front of Scottie’s on FM 751. He said the call was received about 3:30 p.m., and the arrest was made about 4 p.m.

He said the Bell County deputy had filed two charges, vehicular assault and injury to a child. He said he made the arrest on the parole violation charge and indicated the fire marshal might have additional charges.

Layton identified the suspect as Greg Farmer, 47, of Royse City.

He said Farmer had served seven and a half years of a 15-year sentence.

"He will now serve the other seven and a half years," Layton said as well as face the other charges filed in Bell County.