PERU, IN- On August 11, 2023, at approximately 5:55 am, officers from the Peru Police Department and firefighters from the Peru Fire Department were dispatched to the 150 block of East Fifth Street for a structure fire. Upon arrival at the residence, officers and firefighters located a detached garage that was fully engulfed in flames. The fire was extinguished by the Peru Fire Department. The fire was determined to have damaged several other garages in the nearby area. As the Peru Fire Department was extinguishing the garage fire, the Peru Police Department and the Peru Fire Department were dispatched to another fire in the alley near the intersection of Ninth Street and Daniel Street. Deputies from the Miami County Sheriff’s Office responded to that fire and were able to extinguish the fire before any structures were ignited. As a result of both fires, an investigation of the fire was initiated by investigators from the Peru Fire Department and the Peru Police Department.
On August 11, 2023, at approximately 10:25 am, an off-duty Peru Police Officer was in his police vehicle near the intersection of U.S. 24 and State Road 19 where he observed a female walking in the area who appeared to have started a grass fire with an item of clothing. The officer noted that the fire was rapidly growing, and he extinguished the fire and contacted on-duty officers to be enroute as the female fled into a wooded area. Officers located Adrienne Hardy, 50 years old, of Peru, in the wooded area. Evidence from the scene of the fire on East Fifth Street suggested that Hardy was responsible for starting the garage fire.
Hardy was transported to the Peru Police Department where she was interviewed by detectives and was taken into custody for the charges of Arson, a Level 4 Felony, and for Criminal Mischief, a Class B Misdemeanor. The investigation is ongoing at this time.
The Peru Police Department and the Peru Fire Department were assisted in this investigation by the Miami County Sheriff’s Department and Miami County EMS.
