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Man pleads guilty to arson charge from 2012 in Beltrami County

BEMIDJI -- A former Eckles Township man pleaded guilty on Sept. 30 to felony arson in Beltrami County District Court.

Donald Michael Roy, 39, of Minneapolis is accused of intentionally setting a fire to a home he was purchasing in 2012. A Beltrami County Sheriff’s Office incident report states he was previously connected to an arson case involving a Bemidji apartment he had rented.

A warrant was issued for Roy’s arrest in January after he failed to appear at a hearing for the arson charge in Beltrami County and for a separate drug possession charge in Cass County. Seven months later, Roy was transported to the Beltrami County Jail from Shakopee, Minn. Roy was booked into the Beltrami County Jail on Aug. 28.

The Beltrami County Sheriff’s Office responded to a Bemidji Fire Department’s request to assist in a suspicious house fire investigation in Eckles Township on the 5000 block of Fireside Drive NW on April 18, 2012 at approximately 3 p.m., according to a sheriff’s office incident report. Roy, the suspect, is listed as living on Sherman Drive NE in Bemidji at the time.

According to the incident report, Roy called in the fire and stated he believed the fire could have occurred the previous night, started by a candle left burning inside the house because the power was turned off. Fire damage appeared to be confined to one room in the house. Court documents state damages exceeded $49,000. Roy was in the process of purchasing the residence, the report stated.

Based on the placement of the candle and a blanket inside the residence, the deputy state fire marshall said there was enough information that a charge of negligent fire should be reviewed by the county attorney’s office, according to the incident report.

Roy was charged with second-degree arson in November 2013. A second-degree arson charge carries a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison and a fine of $20,000.

Roy is scheduled for sentencing in Beltrami County District Court on Nov. 10.

 

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