Restaurant allegedly torched for insurance money

A Sumner County, South Carolina, man overcooked his restaurant in a scheme to collect $700,000 in insurance money, according to the Associated Press. 

Fifty-seven-year-old Ronald Cantey was arrested Monday, about seven months after the fire at his restaurant, The Compass, after evidence showed the man was at the restaurant about five minutes before the fire was reported, authorities told reporters. 

Mr. Cantey reportedly said after the restaurant burned in July that he put his “heart and soul” into the business for five years and was “devastated,” according to the Associated Press. 

Authorities charged Mr. Cantey with second-degree arson, making a false insurance claim and burning personal property to defraud an insurer.