Holly Hill, SC (WLTX) - A federal grand jury has charged a man in connection with a fire that destroyed three businesses in Orangeburg County last winter.
Officials said damages are estimated at over $1 million and only rubble remains at the site along Old State Rd. in Holly Hill.
"It's hard when it first started, but now it's going to be over. It's going to be done and I'm not going to have to look at the mess every day and it's hard," Jan Wiles said.
The mess Wiles referred to was her family business, a Super 10, passed on to her by her late father.
"I grew up in the store. It was all I knew,” she said.
Everything was destroyed after a fire ripped through her business and two others last January. Ten fire departments responded and multiple agencies investigated including AT. Last month Marvin Smith-Capers Jr. was indicted by a federal grand jury and charged with arson for causing the fire.
"As far as I know he is still on GPS monitoring," Holly Hill Police Chief Joshua Detter said.
Detter said Smith-Capers was ejected from the car he was driving after it flipped as he was running from police.
"We called an ambulance of course because he was hurt pretty bad and as the fire department was coming to assist us, one of the firefighters actually saw that the building was on fire," Detter said.
Detter said local charges will follow including a burglary charge. He said officers found clothing and other objects believed to taken from the store. Meanwhile, Wiles plans on selling the property.
"I'm just really relieved and glad that they have finally done the indictment on this fella and first I thought three counts of arson, but it's technically just one count, but he's still going to be punished and that's what matters to us the most," she said.
According to the US Attorney's Office Smith-Capers' first appearance in federal court will be May 15.