MARION COUNTY, FL (352today.com) – The Marion County Sheriff’s Office (MSCO) has released video captured from the air and the ground of an arrest involving a man they say was setting forest fires.
Deputies arrested 47-year-old Jason Satterly early Tuesday morning after they say footage from the department’s AIR-1 chopper captured him lighting fires in the Silver Springs Forest Conservation Area.
MCSO says deputies in the air using night vision and infrared technology observed a total of eight fires, with two at least 30 yards in diameter and threatening innocent campers in the area.
Bodycam footage captured the moment the ground units were dispatched into the woods to find and apprehend him.
The sheriff’s office produced a nearly 8-minute video of highlights from the operation with on-screen text explaining it from their point-of-view (POV) and at our request sent us the footage without the narrative font.
Initial reports
MCSO received a call around 2:30 a.m. on Tuesday after reports of forest fires in the Silver Springs Forest Conservation Area near the 2000 block of NE Baseline Road.
MSCO received additional information about a man and woman camping in the woods near the fires. The sheriff’s office says the man insisted they could not evacuate the area because his wife had a bad hip and they feared for their lives.
Aerial footage
As deputies arrived, they deployed the help of AIR-1 reconnaissance to track down the location of the fires.
The reconnaissance picked up eight separate fires all within a few miles.
Just before 3 a.m., the video from AIR-1 shows someone running through the woods lighting fires.
Deputies say the chopper was in communication with ground units, informing them the person was heading southbound towards the entrance of the conservation area.
That’s when deputies say ground units began searching on foot.
On the ground
Video from a body camera worn by Deputy Nevin Himmel’s shows his POV and captures the audio as he and Deputy Jesse Brown plow through a densely wooded area in pursuit of the man.
Himmel: “We’ve got to be right on top of him.”
A few seconds later, deputies spot a man.
Himmel: “Let me see your hands! Let me see your hands! Get on the ground!”
The video then shows the man surrendering, falling face-down to the ground.
Brown: “Spread your hands!”
Himmel: “Get your (expletive) hands out!”
Himmel then approaches and detains the man.
When asked what he was doing, they say he responded, “I was just sitting here, chilling in the woods.”
After the arrest, the footage cuts to Himmel utilizing a fire extinguisher to put out one of the active fires until support from Marion County Fire Rescue (MCFR) arrived.
Around this time, the deputies found the couple who was camping and provided assistance to get them safely out of the woods.
The suspect
Deputies booked Satterly into the Marion County Jail around 4 a.m. on Tuesday.
The sheriff’s office says Satterly is a registered sex offender from Kentucky with outstanding warrants.
They charged him with:
- Malicious Land Burning
- Culpable Negligence – Exposure to Harm
- Failure to Register as a Sex Offender
His bond was set at $8,500.
