Today, law enforcement members of the East Texas Church Arson Task Force arrested two men in connection with the 10 church arsons that began on January 1, 2010. These fires occurred in the Henderson, Smith and Van Zandt Counties.
The two men arrested today for arson are Jason Robert Bourque, 19, of Lindale, Texas and Daniel George McAllister, 21, of Ben Wheeler, Texas. Both were arrested without incident. The information leading to the arrest was obtained by a call to the hotline.
"This investigation is not complete. No investigation is finished until guilt is proven in court. But today marks a significant milestone," said Robert Champion, Special Agent in Charge of ATF in Dallas. "The arsons in these communities have been devastating but the citizens have been resilient and aided each other and the investigation."
"Cooperation is the cornerstone to successful investigations and here in East Texas it is no different. ATF has been a proud partner in this case. We had over 70 agents, both local and members of two National Response Teams working on this investigation since the beginning. All agencies involved will continue to work together towards our goal of a successful prosecution of those involved in these crimes," said Champion.
The members of the task force are ATF, Texas Department of Public Safety, Texas Rangers, Athens Police Department and Athens Fire Department Henderson County Fire Marshal's Office, Henderson County Sheriff's Office, Lindale Fire Department, Lindale Police Department, Smith County Fire Marshal's Office, Smith County Fire Marshal, Tyler Fire Department, Tyler Police Department, the Van Zandt County Fire Marshal's Office, the Van Zandt County Fire Marshal, the FBI and the U.S. Marshals.
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