Brandon Twp.-A township teen was in court Tuesday on arson charges stemming from a 2004 township house fire.
The teen who was 15 years old at the time of the fire appeared before Oakland County Circuit Judge Daniel O’Brien. The name of the defendant is withheld since he is a minor.
After a short deliberation the jury handed down a responsible verdict on one count of arson of a dwelling, said Jeff Franklin, Judge O’Brien’s clerk.
‘The fire he started was in his own home’in his grandmothers bedroom,? said Franklin. ‘The neighbors home started 24 hours earlier was not an issue in the case and considered accidental.?
He was released following the trial. Sentencing is set for April 10.
The Brandon High School teen had no prior convictions and attended school up until the time of the trial which included testimony from Brandon Fire Chief Bob McArthur along with character witnesses from Brandon schools.
The teen was the prime suspect after firefighters responded to a pair of suspicious house fires in late September 2004 near Davison Lake Road and Liberty Lane a few miles northeast of Ortonville. The homes, about 300 yards apart in a normally quiet rural township neighborhood, burned within 24 hours of each other.
When firefighters first arrived at the Liberty Lane house fire at about 10 a.m., Sept. 28 the house was fully engulfed in flames, the residents were not at home, however, two dogs died in the blaze.
Early the next morning on Sept. 29, firefighters responded to the home just to the east of Liberty Lane where the teen lived. The fire was contained to a front bedroom of the unoccupied home, however two cats were rescued in from the fire and treated by firefighters. Brandon along with firefighters from Atlas, Hadley and Oxford responded to the blaze.
Following both fires Oakland County fire investigators combed the remains and later arrested the township teen suspected of starting the fire.