Two Selma residents allegedly connected with vehicle fire

Published 7:05 pm Tuesday, April 8, 2014

A Sunday morning vehicle fire has led to the arrest of a Selma man and woman.

Both Janet Haynes, 21, and Cedric Cleveland, 22, have been charged with one count of first-degree criminal mischief for allegedly starting the vehicle fire police responded to Sunday at 5 a.m. at Felix Apartments, which is located at 405 Medical Center Parkway. Haynes and Cleveland are currently being held in Dallas County Jail under a bond of $15,000 each.

“When officers arrived on the scene, they found a black Chevy Impala with heavy smoke coming from the windows, in the 90 block of Felix Heights,” Lt. Curtis Muhannad with the Selma Police Department wrote in a press release. “Further investigation into the case uncovered that Ms. Janet Hayes and victim were feuding over Cedric Cleveland, who was once in a relationship with the victim that bore a child, and, at some point, they were all friends.”

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Selma detectives discovered a red fuel can from inside the vehicle, according to Muhannad.

After receiving enough probable cause to bring the suspects, Selma Police visited the suspect’s residence on the 400 block of Selma Avenue Tuesday at 2:30 p.m. to detain them for questioning when they found both suspects injured.

“When detectives arrived at their residence, Cedric Cleveland was found sitting out on the patio with both his arms bandaged from his hands to his arm-pits and wearing a Vaughan ER input bracelet and Janet Hayes came out of the residence with severe burns to the right side of her face, hands, thighs and legs,” Muhannad wrote in a press release.

Prior to Haynes’ arrest, she was out on bail for a similar charge of first-degree criminal mischief through the Dallas County Sheriff’s Office for a 2012 arrest.

First-degree criminal mischief is a class B felony.