Report: Woman started fire in jail cell when wait for ‘hygiene products’ took too long

An inmate in the Middletown City Jail is charged with arson, a fourth-degree felony, after she allegedly started a fire in her cell around 7 a.m. Thursday.

Georgia Osborne, 35, of Middletown, was charged after she allegedly used a lighter to catch a blanket on fire while she sat on the concrete floor, according to the police report.

She was upset because it was taking corrections officers too long to give her hygiene products, the report said.

She sneaked the lighter into the jail, the report said.

Maj. Scott Reeve from the Middletown Division of Police said Osborne was “properly searched,” but when the corrections officer lifted the bottom of Osborne’s bra, the lighter stuck to her skin so it wasn’t discovered.

Correction Officer Candi Stultz used a fire extinguisher to put the fire out while fellow Correction Officer Preston Brewer placed the blanket set on fire in a toilet to extinguish it, according to the report.

The fire department used fans to get the smoke out of the jail. Several inmates were transported to the back of the jail during the incident.

No injuries were reported, according to the report.

Osborne will have her preliminary hearing at 1:30 p.m. May 25 in Middletown Municipal Court.

She was originally brought into the jail on two warrants: failure to appear on a criminal trespass charge and failure to pay fines, police said.

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