by Tracy McCue, Sumner Newscow — Brandon O’Neal, 20, of Conway Springs has been charged with four felonies stemming from a fire he allegedly started at his home on June 12, 2013. He is also accused of burglarizing a neighbor’s home hoping to plant evidence against the neighbor at the scene of the fire, said Sumner County Attorney Kerwin Spencer.

Spencer said he hopes to bring O’Neal to trial sometime in November.

O’Neal, who lives at 822 N. Chicaskia Road, southeast of Conway Springs, is charged with felonies of aggravated arson, arson, non-residential burglary, and burglary of a motor vehicle. He is also charged with a misdemeanor theft.

Spencer also said he is wanting to get O’Neal back behind bars with a probation revocation hearing scheduled within the next few weeks for a conviction of a burglary that took place on Sept. 12, 2013.

O’Neal recently posted bail on a $25,000 and $50,000 bond, Spencer said.

The four recent felony charges come from what appears to be a grudge held by O’Neal toward a neighbor, who lives three miles north of Conway Springs.

O’Neal was convicted to a 12-month jail sentence for a Sept. 12, 2012 theft when he entered the same neighbor’s dwelling on North Conway Springs Road. He allegedly stole guns, jewelry, a video camera, cash, a saxophone, and an iPod. He was also accused of criminal damage to property by destroying a door and door knob to enter the building where these items were stored. Since it was O’Neal’s first offense he was placed on presumptive probation and ordered to pay back the neighbor $9,000 in restitution, most of it from guns which were not recovered, Spencer said.

Then on June 12, 2013, O’Neal allegedly set a fire at his home on 822 N. Chicaskia Road where he and his father, Donald O’Neal, was residing. According to the complaint, Donald O’Neal was sleeping in an upstairs bedroom, when his son allegedly set a fire inside the home in the living room downstairs by pouring gasoline on a clothes pile and carpet and lighting the fire. Brandon is also accused of setting a fire in two outbuildings on the residence, including a small white shed, located behind the residence and the red shed further away.

Subsequently, O’Neal was charged with aggravated arson, a level 3 felony for the fire inside the house; and arson, a level 7 felony for the shed fires on June 14.

Then upon further investigation on June 27,  Spencer added charges of burglary of a motor vehicle, a level 9 felony; non-residential burglary, a level 7 non-person felony; and theft, a class A misdemeanor.

O’Neal is accused of sometime between June 1 and June 12 of breaking into the neighbor’s sons 1995 Chevrolet pickup and stealing a hammer from the cab. He then allegedly entered into the shed of the neighbor’s and stole a gas can and two cans of paint.

“It appears he stole these items from the neighbor’s place and planted them at the crime scene where he started the fire in hopes of convincing people the neighbor was doing the arson at his residence,” Spencer said.

Spencer said he was hoping to keep O’Neal in custody, but was surprised when he made bond, which required a payment of $2,500 and $5,000.