Daniel Garrett, a former Scott County detective, has been indicted on charges that he set fire to his own vehicle and then tried to cash in with an insurance claim, following a Tennessee Bureau of Investigation probe that concluded a December car fire was intentionally set. A Scott County Grand Jury returned the indictments, and Garrett was arrested and booked into the Scott County Jail on a $25,000 bond.
According to the TBI Newsroom, special agent fire investigators opened the case in January 2025 after a vehicle burned in Scott County in December 2024. Investigators ultimately concluded the fire had been set on purpose. The release identifies the vehicle’s owner as Daniel Garrett (DOB: 12/26/82), notes he was working as a detective with the Scott County Sheriff’s Office at the time of the incident, and reports that the Scott County Grand Jury indicted him on one count of Setting Fire to Personal Property and one count of False or Fraudulent Insurance Claim. He was then booked on a $25,000 bond. The agency also shared the announcement on its Facebook page via a TBI Facebook post.
Charges and legal context
Setting fire to personal property is defined in Tenn. Code § 39-14-303 as a Class E felony. Presenting a false or fraudulent insurance claim is addressed in Tenn. Code § 39-14-133, which provides that such an offense "is punished as in the case of theft." In practical terms, prosecutors would have to prove each element of both charges beyond a reasonable doubt, and the conduct described in the indictment can bring felony-level consequences if a court finds the allegations true.
Timeline of the probe
The TBI release explains that agents began looking into the December 2024 vehicle fire in January 2025. During the investigation, they developed information that, according to the agency, tied the blaze to the vehicle’s owner. That evidence was then presented to a Scott County Grand Jury, which returned the indictments on April 16, 2026. The release also makes clear that Garrett was employed as a detective with the Scott County Sheriff’s Office when the incident occurred and notes that, at this stage, the case consists of allegations rather than proven facts.
What happens next
The TBI notice does not list Garrett’s first court date. His arraignment and any future hearings will show up in Scott County court dockets as the case moves through the system. For now, Garrett remains presumed innocent under the law while prosecutors decide how to handle the charges, and local officials had not added any public comments beyond what appeared in the agency’s announcement.
