Arson Suspect Abandoned 6-Month-Old Child: Sheriff

CUMMING, GA — A man accused of setting three fires in two south Forsyth County subdivisions was originally arrested on charges that he left his 6-month-old baby at home alone.

Piyushkumar Dayalaji Mistry is charged with three counts of first-degree arson in connection with the fires, which happened in the Springmonte and Saddlebrook subdivisions in south Forsyth.

According to the Forsyth County Sheriff's Office, Mistry was stopped by a deputy on Wednesday, shortly after fire crews had been called to the Saddlebrook subdivision at 1:05 p.m. for the third suspicious fire in the area in less than a week.

A deputy recognized him because Mistry's wife had been arrested a day earlier in the Springmonte subdivision, said sheriff's office spokesman Deputy First Class Douglas Rainwater.

During the course of the traffic stop, deputies learned that Mistry had left his 6-month-old child home alone, Rainwater said. Deputies conducted a welfare check and found the baby on an upstairs bed, unsupervised. The Department of Family and Children Services was called to care for the child.

Mistry was arrested on charges of cruelty to children and driving on a suspended license. He is being held with no bond at the Forsyth County Detention Center.

A day later, the sheriff's office announced that Mistry had been charged with three counts of first-degree arson in connection with the fires, which happened in the Springmonte and Saddlebrook subdivisions in south Forsyth.

On July 5, a fire broke out at the Springmonte subdivision clubhouse and, three days later, there was another fire, at the Springmonte tennis court. Then, late Tuesday, there was a fire in a parked vehicle in the nearby Saddlebrook subdivision.

Investigators with the Forsyth County Fire Department fire marshal's office determined all three fires to be arson.

During the traffic stop — which authorities originally said happened Tuesday night but was actually early Wednesday morning — a deputy said he noticed items in Mistry's vehicle that raised suspicion and he notified fire department investigators.

A search warrant was issued for Mistry's home, where items linked to the three fires were found, the fire department said.

Mistry's wife, Disha Ratilalbhai Tank, was arrested Tuesday for littering and simple battery on a law enforcement officer. She is being held in the detention center on a $2,340 bond.

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