An 18-year-old man has been arrested and charged with multiple felonies, including attempted murder, after allegedly setting his ex's house ablaze in Crawford County, Michigan, with a family of four inside, as confirmed by local authorities. Deputies from the Crawford County Sheriff's Office and firefighters from the Frederic Township Fire Department responded to the emergency call early Sunday morning, around 3:30 a.m., following reports of the house fire in Maple Forest Township.
Before the fire engulfed the residence, a juvenile in the house reported hearing strange noises and sighted a person hiding within the abode, yet after alerting the adults and searching, the mysterious figure could not be located and the family retired once more to rest, thereafter, in a terrifyingly short span of hours, the same juvenile warned of the emergent conflagration, forcing the family to flee their home, fortunately, all occupants evaded physical harm during the escape, according to a statement obtained by WILX.
Upon the arson investigation, the collaboration between the Crawford County and Antrim County Sheriff’s Offices led to the identification of Cameron Spencer, 18, of Central Lake, as the suspect, especially since Spencer was involved in an earlier vehicular incident the same morning and was subsequently interviewed, as reported by MLive. The authorities have not yet specified a motive for the incident, where photographs depicted the home as destroyed.
Spencer was arraigned on Tuesday facing four counts of attempted murder along with charges of second-degree arson, first-degree home invasion and two counts of malicious destruction of property after the targeted residence was deemed a total loss, “All were able to escape without injury, and one person was seen running away from the home,” the Crawford County Sheriff's Office said, an account corroborated by The State, further detailing the incident that has unsettled the local community situated approximately 155 miles northeast of Grand Rapids.
