Three men and a woman have been arrested in connection with an Essex Junction fire that destroyed 11 cars and trucks, damaged 18 more, burned down a large carport building, and severely damaged three condominium buildings.
The fire was reported Nov. 14 at 4 in the morning at 7 Densmore Drive in Essex Junction. It appeared to have started inside one vehicle and quickly spread to the others, said Ron Hoague, the Essex police chief.
Since then, Essex police detectives have been able to develop several leads in the case that led to the arrests.
Tyshawn Lee, 19, of Burlington is charged with first-degree arson, criminal threatening, obstruction of justice, unlawful mischief and petty theft. He was arrested Dec. 4, was held at the Northwest State Correctional Facility for lack of $25,000 bail, and was scheduled to be arraigned Monday.
Darren Martell, 19, of Colchester and Nathan Morrill, 26, a transient, are both charged with unlawful mischief and petty theft. They have been cited to appear in Chittenden Superior Court.
Brooke Plantier, 21, of Colchester is charged with accessory after the fact, related to assistance with the crimes of unlawful mischief and petty theft. She has been cited to appear in Chittenden Superior Court.
Police said the case developed this way:
As the Essex Police and Fire departments were dealing with the fire, Williston police stopped a suspicious vehicle, with Lee and Plantier inside. The officers saw property inside the vehicle that they believed was stolen, and applied for a search warrant. The two were not arrested at that time.
After the search, Williston and Essex officers confirmed that the property had been stolen from numerous vehicles on the night of the Essex fire, including some that were parked near the fire.
Through further investigation and interviews, police developed evidence that led to the arrests of Lee, Plantier, Martell and Morrill. All four are charged with vandalism and numerous thefts from vehicles in Essex, Colchester, Williston and South Burlington that night.
Police allege that, while committing a theft from the vehicle in the carport, Lee used hand sanitizer he found inside the vehicle as an accelerant to start a fire on the passenger seat. The vehicle soon caught on fire, and the flames quickly spread to the rest of the carport — a large building with a dozen carport areas on each side of the structure, and across a parking area from the condominium buildings.
All the suspects took off as the flames spread, but are accused of committing one more theft from a vehicle at a different location. Police allege Lee and Plantier dropped off Martell and Morrill before they were stopped by Williston police.
Police believe Lee and Plantier left for South Carolina the day after the fire, but returned to Vermont in the last week, and were arrested.
On Dec. 4, police allege, Lee threatened Martell for cooperating with police. Colchester police took Lee into custody later in the day.
Hoague credited the Williston Police Department and the Vermont State Police Fire Investigations Unit for their help with the case. Cooperation among agencies in Chittenden County is a common practice, he said, and the fire investigation shows the benefits of those partnerships.
