A convicted arsonist was arrested after threatening violence against a woman in Wildwood.
Emett David Smart, 34, was to be turned over to U.S. Marshals following his arrest this past week by Sumter County sheriff’s deputies following a domestic disturbance.
Deputies were called to a home in Wildwood after Smart, who stands 6 feet tall and weighs 280 pounds, raised his fist and threatened to hit the woman as he was running toward her, according to an arrest report. A witness heard the woman screaming “in fear.” Smart left the home, “traded insults” with the witness, and was apprehended by a deputy as he was walking on County Road 230. He was arrested on charges of simple assault and battery.
In 2018, Smart set fire to a four-unit apartment building located in Jacksonville, according to the U.S. Department of Justice. At the time of the fire, there were several occupants inside the building. Smart set the fire two days after the owner of the apartment building had initiated eviction proceedings against the tenant of the apartment Smart was residing in at the time of the fire. Smart was sentenced to five years in federal prison.
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