MOUNT VERNON - A Danville man has been charged on four counts in two different courts from separate incidents that happened on the same day in January of 2019.
Emmett N. Mitchell, 32, was indicted on Monday on a count of aggravated arson, a second-degree felony, in Knox County Court of Common Pleas and was previously charged with three separate first-degree misdemeanors in Mount Vernon Municipal Court.
According to five witness statements, Mitchell was said to have arrived in the morning of Jan. 21, claiming to have been pursued by the police and he said if law enforcement was to come to the residence, he was allegedly going to take hostages.
One witness stated that Mitchell said he “would not be taken alive” and took the knife out of his pocket several times. He also threatened to set an acquaintance’s house on fire, according to the arrest report.
One of the witnesses requested a protection order on the scene, which was completed and Mitchell was taken to Knox County Jail without incident.
On the same day, he allegedly started a fire while trying to make a meth lab at a residence in the 25000 block of Weber Road in Howard, according to Knox County Prosecuting Attorney Chip McConville.
The residence burned to the ground and was a total loss.
Mitchell is awaiting his final pre-trail hearing in municipal court on April 23.
Along with the indictment, a warrant was issued by the Court of Common Pleas to the sheriff of Knox County on March 25.
