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Police arrest 74-year-old for setting series of fires

Posted at 9:00 PM, Mar 23, 2014
and last updated 2014-03-23 23:41:59-04

ALEXANDRIA, Va. (WTVR) -- A 74-year-old woman has been arrested for allegedly starting a series of small fires inside a northern Virginia apartment building.

The fires had tenants baffled for nearly a year about what or who could be causing them.

Police arrested 74-year-old Shirley Vigneau Thursday. She has lived in the Southern Towers complex in Alexandria for three decades.

Police said they arrested her after security cameras recorded her leaving a garbage room on a lower level moments before a fire set off alarms.

Police think over the past ten months she set 25 fires in hallways, maintenance rooms and even elevators by lighting pieces of paper.

Vigneau faces one arson charge, but police said more charges are pending.  If convicted, she could go to jail for decades.