By ROBIN SHANNON

L’Observateur

LAPLACE – A Reserve man was arrested on attempted arson charges Wednesday after St. John Sheriff’s authorities said he tried to set fire to a trailer in a dispute over visitation of his 2-month-old son.

Maurice Hodges, 27, of 140 26th St., is accused of trying to set fire to the mobile home while the baby and the child’s 27-year-old mother were still inside, said Capt. Dane Clement, public information officer for the Sheriff’s Office.

A report from police said Hodges was upset with the woman because she would not let him visit with his son. Clement said when Hodges showed up at the woman’s trailer in the 200 block of Chad B Baker Street in Reserve just before 10 p.m. last Friday, she told him to leave and then called his sister.

The report indicated Hodges walked to the right rear side of the trailer and tried to set it on fire with a lighter. Clement said investigators found Hodges had torn away parts of the trailer, and black marks were visible in the area he was trying to ignite.

When Hodges’ sister arrived at the home, the unidentified 27-year-old woman took the baby to a neighbor’s home, and the two women confronted him, Clement said. Hodges left the area with his sister, and no one was injured in the incident. Detectives do not know the relationship between Hodges and the victim other than they are both the parents of the 2-month-old child.

Clement said Hodges surrendered to deputies Wednesday evening at the Sheriff’s Office Criminal Investigations Bureau in LaPlace, where he was booked into the Sherman Walker Correctional Facility on attempted aggravated arson charges. He was released Thursday after posting a $30,000 commercial bond.