Current:Home > StocksOwner of exploding Michigan building arrested at airport while trying to leave US, authorities say -TrueNorth Capital Hub
Owner of exploding Michigan building arrested at airport while trying to leave US, authorities say
View
Date:2025-04-18 12:40:02
CLINTON TOWNSHIP, Mich. (AP) — The owner of a suburban Detroit business that caught fire and exploded, killing a man, was arrested at a New York airport as he was preparing to depart for Hong Kong on a one-way ticket, authorities said Friday.
U.S. Customs and New York Port Authority personnel arrested Noor Noel Kestou, 31, on Saturday at John F. Kennedy International Airport. He was brought back to Michigan on Wednesday.
Kestou, of Commerce Township, was arraigned Thursday on an involuntary manslaughter charge.
The March 4 fire and explosion occurred in a Clinton Township building that housed a distributor for the vaping industry called Goo. More than 100,000 vape pens were stored on-site. Authorities have said a truckload of butane canisters had arrived at the building within a week of the explosion that sent cannisters soaring up to 2 miles (3.2 kilometers), and more than half of that stock was still there when the fire began.
Turner Lee Salter, 19, was about a quarter of a mile (0.40 kilometers) away when he was struck by a nitrous oxide cannister that was propelled through the air by the explosion. Salter later died.
Authorities said they were given information on April 20 that Kestou was trying to fly to Hong Kong.
“We don’t know what his ultimate goal was,” Macomb County Prosecutor Peter Lucido told reporters Friday. “Was it to stay out of the country with a wife and child here? Nobody has a crystal ball to determine who is a flight risk.”
“He was a suspect from the beginning, being the owner of this business,” Lucido added. “Anyone that owns a business and something like this happens has to be considered a suspect.”
Goo had received a township occupancy permit in September 2022 for the 26,700-square-foot (2,480-square-meter) building as a retail location for a “smoke shop/vape store” that would sell paraphernalia for vape products, Clinton Township’s Building Department has said.
Kestou has been released after posting a $500,000 bond. Lucido said authorities have his passport and that a condition of bond is that Kestou has to wear a GPS tether. A probable cause hearing is scheduled for May 7 in Clinton Township District Court.
Kestou’s attorney, James Thomas, said Thursday he had no comment on the case.
veryGood! (18)
Related
- New data highlights 'achievement gap' for students in the US
- Santa Barbara’s paper, one of California’s oldest, stops publishing after owner declares bankruptcy
- A Big Climate Warning from One of the Gulf of Maine’s Smallest Marine Creatures
- The Fed already had a tough inflation fight. Now, it must deal with banks collapsing
- Jorge Ramos reveals his final day with 'Noticiero Univision': 'It's been quite a ride'
- Small plane crashes into Santa Fe home, killing at least 1
- Police say they can't verify Carlee Russell's abduction claim
- The Carbon Cost of California’s Most Prolific Oil Fields
- In ‘Nickel Boys,’ striving for a new way to see
- Police say they can't verify Carlee Russell's abduction claim
Ranking
- NHL in ASL returns, delivering American Sign Language analysis for Deaf community at Winter Classic
- 'I'M BACK!' Trump posts on Facebook, YouTube for first time in two years
- Maine aims to restore 19th century tribal obligations to its constitution. Voters will make the call
- Bison severely injures woman in Theodore Roosevelt National Park in North Dakota
- Dick Vitale announces he is cancer free: 'Santa Claus came early'
- New drugs. Cheaper drugs. Why not both?
- Safety net with holes? Programs to help crime victims can leave them fronting bills
- Teen Mom's Catelynn Lowell and Tyler Baltierra Share Rare Family Photo Of Daughter Carly
Recommendation
Don't let hackers fool you with a 'scam
Rebel Wilson and Fiancée Ramona Agruma Will Need a Pitch Perfect Compromise on Wedding Plans
Locals look for silver linings as Amazon hits pause on its new HQ
Biden wants Congress to boost penalties for executives when midsize banks fail
Off the Grid: Sally breaks down USA TODAY's daily crossword puzzle, Triathlon
Retired Georgia minister charged with murder in 1975 slaying of girl, 8, in Pennsylvania
Ray J Calls Out “Fly Guys” Who Slid Into Wife Princess Love’s DMs During Their Breakup
BET Awards 2023: See Every Star on the Red Carpet