ROCKINGHAM — A man is in the Richmond County Jail on attempted murder charges after allegedly setting fire to an occupied camper over the weekend.
Rockingham Police responded to 102 Aslington Street around 7:05 a.m. Saturday, June 1 in reference to a 911 hangup with a callback, when a victim said someone had set fire to their camper, according to an incident report.
Three people, two men and a woman, between the ages of 20 and 26 were inside at the time, the report shows.
The fire reportedly damaged a Forest River Wildwood camper, valued at $4,000, and $150 worth of clothing.
The suspect is listed on the report as 39-year-old Joseph Charles Perakis of Hamlet.
Jail records show Perakis was booked at 11:36 a.m. Thursday, June 6 on four felony charges: three counts of attempted first-degree murder and one count of first-degree arson.
The incident report also lists the crimes of communicating threats and injury to real property being committed, but there are no records of those charges being filed.
Perakis is being held under a $250,000 secured bond and is scheduled to appear in court June 27.
Online court records show no other pending charges.
He was last convicted in 2015 for selling a Schedule VI controlled substance, a felony, according to records with the N.C. Department of Public Safety Division of Adult Correction.
The previous year, Perakis was convicted of two misdemeanor counts of injury to real property.
Records show Perakis also has the following previous convictions: driving with a revoked license (2000); maintaining any place for a controlled substance (2001); driving with a revoked license (2003); driving while impaired and resisting a public officer (2004).
He was given probation for all previous convictions.
All defendants facing criminal charges are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.
