Four people have been arrested for their alleged roles in the burning of a vehicle in Vernon Parish and then attempting to fraudulently collect insurance money, according to officials with the Louisiana State Fire Marshal’s Office.

Sakia Harris, 18, Emanuel Mosley, 21, Catherine Hudge, 36, and Antonio Hudge, 40, were all booked into the Vernon Parish Jail last week following an investigation into a vehicle fire that occurred earlier this year in Leesville.

According to State Fire Marshal’s Office spokesperson Ashley Rodrigue, on the early morning of May 25, the Savage Forks Fire Department responded to a vehicle fire near the 700 block of Section Line Road.

Rodrigue said firefighters arrived at the scene to find a “luxury sedan” on fire on the side of the road. She said the vehicle also appeared to have bullet holes in it.

After assessing the scene and collecting evidence, State Fire Marshal’s detectives determined the fire had been intentionally set.

According to authorities, Harris had borrowed the vehicle from her mother, Catherine Hudge, to travel out of the area, but later crashed the vehicle. In an attempt to conceal the crash damage, detectives say Harris enlisted the help of her boyfriend, Mosley, to set the vehicle on fire.

Detectives allege that evidence collected shows that Hudge and her husband, Antonio, filed an insurance claim for the fire damage despite knowing the true nature of the fire’s cause.

Harris was charged with one count each of simple arson, criminal conspiracy, obstruction of justice, and hit and run.

Catherine Hudge and Antonio Hudge were charged with one count each of insurance fraud.

Mosley was charged with one count each of simple arson, obstruction of justice, and illegal use of a weapon.
Authorities said Mosley’s weapon charge was the result of a discovery of weapons and drugs in a home where deputies with the Vernon Parish Sheriff’s Office were executing a search warrant related to the arson investigation.