By Nathan Hardin
nhardin@salisburypost.com
SALISBURY — A Rockwell woman was taken into custody Thursday afternoon after she was released from Rowan Regional Medical Center.
Detectives from the Rowan County Sheriff’s Office said Patricia Stewart Humphrey burned down her own house at 150 Delinda Drive on March 30. She was charged with felony first-degree arson.
Warrants for the 48-year-old woman were obtained in March after a house fire investigation led to suspicion about the woman’s involvement.
When deputies went to her friend’s house to arrest her, she was found unconscious. According to the report, the woman took a large quantity of a variety of prescription pills prior to law enforcement’s arrival.
Investigators found newsprint and magazines shoved in the home’s ventilation system after the fire was extinguished.
And Humphrey admitted she did it, police said.
But she also told deputies she was using literature to “keep the cold air out.”
Along with that, detectives said they found discrepancies between the witnesses involved.
According to the arrest reports, Shane Greene and David Lynn Stewart Jr. were inside the residence when the fire began.
Humphrey was in jail Friday under a $35,000 bond.
Contact reporter Nathan Hardin at 704-797-4246.
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