A Massachusetts man has been arrested on charges that he torched his second home in Somerset County, Maine, and then collected insurance on it, authorities said.
William Carabetta, 49, of Monson, was arrested by Massachusetts State Police on Tuesday night at his home and has been charged with four counts of insurance deception and one charge of conspiracy to commit insurance fraud, according to Maine’s Office of State Fire Marshal.
The charges stem from a fire on Jan. 28, 2017, at Carabetta’s former second home at 38 Carrabassett Road in New Portland. Investigators could not determine the cause of the fire. Emergency crews worked for nearly eight hours to try to contain the blaze but eventually were forced to tear down the home with an excavator in order to put it out.
The charges also come from Carabetta’s insurance claim for water damage from frozen pipes and a reported theft of an ATV from the property in 2016.
Investigators worked with state police in Massachusetts earlier in the day Tuesday before Carabetta’s arrest.
He was taken to the Hampden County Jail in Ludlow and was held on a fugitive from justice charge. He was expected to return to Maine once the fugitive from justice charge has been resolved.
Carabetta bought the New Portland home in 2014 for $84,000 and received $350,000 in insurance proceeds, officials said.
Send questions/comments to the editors.
Success. Please wait for the page to reload. If the page does not reload within 5 seconds, please refresh the page.
Enter your email and password to access comments.
Hi, to comment on stories you must . This profile is in addition to your subscription and website login.
Already have a commenting profile? .
Invalid username/password.
Please check your email to confirm and complete your registration.
Only subscribers are eligible to post comments. Please subscribe or login first for digital access. Here’s why.
Use the form below to reset your password. When you've submitted your account email, we will send an email with a reset code.