TROUT RUN — Two local men — Anthony Leroy James Jr. and Linton Hooper — face felony arson-related charges for their alleged involvement in setting fire to a 2015 sports car owned by James on 4 Mile Road near Trout Run on the night of May 27, according to Cpl. Nathan Birth, a state police fire marshal. It is alleged the two men conspired to set the fire so that James could collect insurance on the vehicle, Birth said.

James, 52, of 1320 Pleasant Hills Road, Eldred Township, and Hooper, 57, formerly of Atlanta, Georgia, now living in the city at 613 Wyoming St., have both been charged with arson, insurance fraud, tampering with evidence and false reports.

James faces an additional charge of reckless burning. The two conspired in reporting to law enforcement that James’ Maserati Ghibli was stolen when in fact it had not, Birth said.

Volunteer firefighters were initially dispatched to investigate a report of a brush fire in the area of Route 15 and 4 Mile Road. The fire was called in by a tractor-trailer truck driver. When Trout Run Fire Chief Nick Smith arrived on the scene, he was faced with a sports car that was on fire . The flames were quickly put out, but the car was destroyed. Hepburn Township firefighters also assisted at the scene. Birth responded and determined the fire was intentionally set. A female acquaintance of the two men told investigators that James and Hooper towed the Ghibli from the 1800 block of Hays Lane in Loyalsock Township to 4 Mile Road and then set it on fire using gasoline, it was alleged in an affidavit.

Both men were arrested last week. James, taken into custody on the morning of Nov. 26, was arraigned before District William Solomon and jailed in lieu of $50,000 bail while Hooper, arrested hours later, was arraigned before District Judge Kirsten Gardner and locked up in the Lycoming County Prison in lieu of $75,000. The two have since been released and will have their preliminary hearing next week.

Besides the arson-related charges, Hooper faces additional offenses for allegedly assaulting a woman in her apartment in the 1800 block of Hays Lane on Oct. 28, according to state police.

It is alleged Hooper punched the woman in the face, placed her in headlock, making it difficult for her to breathe, police said, adding that this attack occurred in front of the woman’s juvenile son. After breaking free, the woman fled the apartment to get help, police said.

“There was dry blood below the woman’s nose as well as a laceration on her right arm,” a trooper wrote in an affidavit.

Charged with felony strangulation, simple assault and harassment, Hooper was arraigned before District Judge Aaron Bichle and initially jailed, but has since been released on $25,000 bail.