Andrael Davis (Photo: City of Detroit)
A man living near Detroit's Virginia Park neighborhood is charged with 10 counts of arson following an unusual uptick in fires in the area.
Officials say they caught Andrael Davis, 30, attempting to set fire to a garage last week following tips from residents. More than 30 fires have occurred in and around the redeveloping west side district since last year, nearly half of them at structures.
Davis is also now under investigation for a handful of additional blazes between Detroit and Highland Park that occurred starting in May 2020.
It's the alleged firebug's third recent brush with law enforcement.
He was previously arrested for setting a fence and trash can ablaze last March, but charged at the time with only misdemeanors. A month later he allegedly assaulted police after they confronted him about a trash can fire. He wasn't arraigned on those charges until last week.
1401 Atkinson (Photo: Detroit Fire Department)
Davis was most recently captured during police surveillance Feb. 10, after the fire department says it became aware of the heightened arson activity in Virginia Park in December.
He's being held on a $25,000 bond, court records show.
He's allegedly linked or charged with fires at these locations:
- Dwelling at 1444 Taylor on November 28, 2021
- Dwelling at 1405/1407 Clairmount on December 26, 2021
- Dwelling at 1404 Atkinson on December 29, 2021
- Dwelling at 1405/1407 Clairmount on January 31, 2022
- Dwelling at 1444 Taylor on February 5, 2022
- Dwelling at 2224 Hazelwood on May 5, 2020
- Garage at 1474 Taylor on March 5, 2021
- Structure fire at 2nd and Glendale on March 15, 2021 (Highland Park)
- Commercial Dumpster at 1415 Glynn Court on March 17, 2021
