A 44-year-old Wadsworth woman was arrested Tuesday on charges of attempted murder and three counts of aggravated arson related to a house fire eight months ago.
Carol M. Gross, of Ledgestone Drive, is being held at the Medina County Jail on a $500,000 bond. She had been indicted earlier this month by a county grand jury.
Wadsworth police Chief Randall Reinke declined to cite the cause of the fire or a possible motive.
Firefighters responded at 11:56 a.m. Nov. 27 to a house fire at 463 Wolf Ave. after a couple driving in the area stopped to investigate smoke. Neighbors advised that an elderly man might be in the house, but the fire was too intense to go in through the front door, authorities said.
The man who reported the fire entered the back of the house and helped an 81-year-old resident escape the blaze. The elderly man was treated at a local hospital and released.
Reinke said Gross was living at the residence at the time, and the elderly man who escaped is her father-in-law.
Firefighters from Wadsworth, Rittman, Seville, Sharon Township and Norton battled the blaze for several hours. Wadsworth police Detective Dawn Schismenos and investigator Brian Peterman of the Division of State Fire Marshal’s Office investigated the case.