Youth arrested in America

Toledo, OH: Anarchist suspected in two anti-sprawl arsons
http://www.infoshop.org/inews/article.php?story=20080318181320236

Lambertville youth caught in stakeout
By MARK REITER, BLADE STAFF WRITER
March 18, 2008

TEMPERANCE - A Lambertville youth accused of arson in the fires that
destroyed two unfinished homes in Bedford Township housing developments
started the fires to bring attention to the construction of new homes in
the area, authorities said.

Michael W. Sykes, 17, who was arrested during last weekend's police
stakeout to catch the arsonist responsible for the string of fires in
the Lambertville area, was arraigned yesterday in Monroe County District
Court.

He pleaded not guilty to one count each of arson and home invasion.
Judge Mark Braunlich ordered the teenager held in the county jail in
lieu of $1 million bond. He is scheduled to be back in court March 26
for a pretrial hearing.

Young Sykes, who lives with his parents at 7472 Canterbury Drive, was
taken into custody about 1:15 a.m. Sunday after he was accused of trying
to siphon gasoline from an unmarked Jeep Cherokee as Detective Tom
Redmond sat inside the parked SUV.

The arrest occurred during an undercover stakeout in which deputies sat
inside unfinished homes in the township in an effort to catch the
arsonist who destroyed two homes in separate fires days apart.

In interviews, the teen admitted to setting fires last week to an
unoccupied condominium on Fountain Circle in Crystal Waters Villas off
Douglas Road and setting a second fire two days later that destroyed a
home being built on Brentridge Lane, said Detective Redmond, who also is
an arson investigator.

He said the motive behind the teenager's actions was to discourage the
construction of new housing developments and curtail the growth of suburbs.

"He was tired of the growth and building of homes in the area," the
detective said. "He hates society. He wants to see society fail."

Detective Redmond said the teenager also confessed to taking an ax
Friday to an 80-foot utility pole along Sterns Road and stealing an
American flag last week from a residence in a subdivision near Sterns
and painting the anarchist symbol - the letter "A" inside a circle - on
it. The flag was found slightly burned in a wooded area near the
suspect's home.

The teen also confessed to a Jan. 12, 2006, arson fire behind the Kroger
store at Sterns and Secor roads in Lambertville that destroyed a semi
trailer and filled the store with smoke and torching a boat and trailer
that same year, authorities said.

Detective Redmond said the investigation began focusing on the Sykes
teen after the condo fire in Crystal Water Villas.

He said Detective Heath Velliquette offered him as a possible suspect
because of the fire two years ago at Kroger and a fire that was started
intentionally in a field several days later in Whiteford Township.

Detectives also connected the recent arson fires and the damaged utility
pole through a tread pattern of a tennis shoe print that was left as
evidence at the crime scenes.

The sole print matched the shoes that the Sykes youth was wearing at the
time of his arrest, they said.

The teenager's mother, Debra Sykes, said yesterday that her son was
wrongly being portrayed by the media as a "monster," and instead she
said he is a "good kid" who is ill and needs help.

"He loves nature. He loves animals, especially turtles," Mrs. Sykes said.

Under Michigan law, Sykes, though 17, will be prosecuted as an adult.
Detective Redmond said additional charges likely will be filed against him.

According to Family Circuit Court records, the Sykes youth, then 15,
served 24 days in the county youth center in 2006 for delinquencies in
connection with arson, running away from home, and larceny.

The arson charge stems from the fire he set to the field in Whiteford
Township, an act he told sheriff's detectives was "because he was tired
of seeing all the forest being destroyed," court documents said.

In July, the teenager was sentenced to 20 hours community service and
placed on probation by a Family Circuit Court judge for delinquency in
connection with misdemeanor disturbing the peace.

The Sykes youth, then a student at Bedford High School, was charged for
fighting with another student last May in the cafeteria during lunch.

According to his mother, the teenager transferred last year from the
high school to a private school in Toledo.

http://www.toledoblade.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080318/NEWS02/803180323