By ELIZABETH FERSZT
and KATHRYN PALON
Contributing Writers
Frederick Lewis Noakes, 43, was arraigned Jan. 23 in the courtroom of Magistrate Christopher Dickerson on felony charges related to a Jan. 21 fire that injured two other men.
According to a press from the Jackson Co. Prosecutor’s Office, Noakes’ charges include one count of first-degree arson, and two counts of assault with intent to do great bodily harm. Judge Dickerson issued a $500,000 cash surety bond.
“The maximum possible penalty for First Degree Arson is life in the MDOC,” said Chief Prosecutor Kelsey Guernsey in the release.
The fire was allegedly started at a residence at 324 Clinton St., a small street just off W. Louis Glick Highway. Jackson police officers arrived on the scene at about 10 p.m. to find Noakes lying in front of the home.
“This subject ultimately admitted to officers that he set the home on fire in an attempt to harm his roommates as he believed they were conspiring against him,” wrote JPD Chief Chris Simpson in a press release.
The victims included a 62-year-old male who escaped the fire by exiting through an upstairs window, and a 67-year-old male who was transported to Henry Ford Health Jackson where he was stabilized before being transferred to the University of Michigan Hospital Burn Center.
When asked whether the police or the fire department determines if fire is an arson, Simpson stated in a Jan. 23 email, “both will determine, as we both have arson investigators. We carry that burden as it is our official report that will go to the prosecutor’s office seeking said charges.”
The fire was contained by JFD, and the house was not leveled, according to Simpson.
Anyone with information about this arson is asked to contact Detective Steven Brooks at (517) 768-6432 or Crime Stoppers at (517) 483-7867.
