Lang
10/14/23
Iowa City Police have made an arrest in a vehicle arson case.
40-year-old Ashley Bunting of Maggard Street was booked into the Johnson County Jail just before 3:00 Friday afternoon. The investigation involves a truck that was intentionally set on fire on the 1600 block of Aber Avenue sometime between 1 a.m. and 4:45 a.m. on Wednesday, Aug. 23rd. The DCI took samples of accelerant found at the scene and investigated palm prints lifted from the vehicle.
Late last month, the DCI determined the palm prints belonged to Bunting, who is currently going through a divorce and custody issues with the truck’s owner.
An investigation determined that Bunting emailed the truck’s owner in September asking if the truck still smelled. A search warrant executed on Bunting’s phone reportedly turned up evidence that she searched the truck’s location on Google maps in the hours before the fire, and that she shut her phone off between 11:57pm on August 22nd and 2:42am on August 23rd. Bunting also allegedly deleted her Google location and search history.
Bunting is charged with 2nd Degree Arson. If convicted, she faces a maximum of ten years in prison.