Harris County man charged with arson in fake hate crime

08:26 PM CST on Thursday, March 4, 2004

By Janice Williamson / 11 News

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Harris County's fire marshal has arrested a Houston man and charged him with torching his own home. The investigation into a fake hate crime led to the man's arrest.

This crime is very similar to another high profile case of arson fraud.

According to arson investigators this is the story of two business partners, who they believe committed insurance fraud and arson. It's a case that took more than two years to sort out.

KHOU-TV James Green has been indicted on two counts of first-degree arson that involved more than $450,000 in fraudulent insurance claims.

It all started in December 2002 when Nicholas Gatlin's home was destroyed by fire and racial slurs were spray-painted on the walls. He would later plea guilty to arson and insurance fraud.

It was during the course of that investigation that Harris County fire marshals began looking at similar crimes.

James Green's home in Baytown was covered with racial slurs in 1999. Then in 2001 it burned to the ground. Investigators eventually discovered Gatlin and Green were partners in business and allegedly in arson.

"His name popped up with the hate crime and the fire, the same as Gatlin," says Dustin Deutsch with the Harris County Fire Marshal's office. "We started talking to some contacts. We investigated the scene, and everything was similar down to the stolen U-Haul truck to the spray painting techniques, the way they spray painted, what they spray painted, exactly the same.

Green has been indicted on two counts of first-degree arson that involved more than $450,000 in fraudulent insurance claims.

Investigators say they have seized more that 500 pieces of evidence from Green's homes. They say that they are some of the items that Green claimed were lost in that fire.

Investigators believe the 45-year-old suspect will turn himself in soon to Harris County fire marshals.