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November 7, 2004Doctor charged in arson of homeShe admits placing dead skunk in mailboxByRecord-Eagle staff writer GAYLORD - An Alpena foot doctor who apparently became obsessed with an insurance official who denied her worker's compensation claim was jailed on $2 million bond after the official's home burned to the ground. Sharon Ann Stewart was charged Saturday with arson and breaking and entering, state police Sgt. David Hart said. Police responding to a fire in Otsego Lake Township Friday afternoon pulled over Stewart's car because it matched the description of a car involved in a previous arson attempt at the home. Stewart, 46, of Alpena, initially told police that she was merely driving through Gaylord and enjoying the afternoon. But police said she later admitted that she entered the home and started the fire. Stewart, who was identified as a podiatrist by a spokeswoman at Alpena General Hospital, also confessed that she had earlier tried and failed to set a fire at the home and that she once had left a dead skunk in the man's mailbox, police said. The name of the insurance official was not released. Hart said he didn't know whether the man was an adjuster or an investigator, but he said Stewart's insurance claim was for worker's compensation. The homeowner told police he left his house for less than a half hour and returned to find it engulfed in flames. Stewart was arrested after a state police trooper spotted her car headed north on I-75 as police were headed to the fire. While Stewart was being questioned by police, Trooper Joseph Rowley determined Stewart had recently been denied an insurance claim that was processed by the insurance official. The home was destroyed, but firefighters from Otsego Lake Township, Otsego County and Frederick were able to save a detached garage, police said.
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