Woman charged with setting fire in city jail cell

A Clinton woman who said she “just wanted to get out of the police department” is now facing a charge that could keep her behind bars much longer.
Ellie Dodge, 23, was charged with third-degree arson after setting fire recently to a sweater in her cell at the Clinton City Jail. The resultant blaze also caught a bench in the cell on fire.
Officer Christian Blackstock wrote in an affidavit of probable cause that about 8 a.m. Oct. 20 he saw smoke coming from cracks in the cell door and smelled a strong odor of something burning.
Blackstock said he opened the door and Ms. Dodge stepped out and handed him a green BIC cigarette lighter. Asked why she had set the fire, she allegedly replied that she “just wanted to get out of the police department.”
The affidavit said there were ashes in the west corner of the cell on a bench. Blackstock said they were still smoking and there was a large burn mark on the bench.
He said he then put Dodge in the jail’s isolation cell and contacted the Fire Department and Lt. Miguel Gonzales.
Later he looked at surveillance footage from the jail that day, and wrote that it showed Dodge arguing with a dispatcher. When Lieutenant Gonzales shut the cell door, Blackstock said the security footage showed her grab the lighter from the front left pocket of her pants and use it to set a sweater on fire. She then began fanning it with a pair of pants.
Dodge eventually put on a pair of jail coveralls and sat down on the bench.
She also began fanning the part of the bench that was burning and was subsequently charged with third-degree arson.