Police: No criminal investigation yet into couch fires set after U-M victory
The celebratory fires set in Ann Arbor streets Sunday after the University of Michigan men’s basketball team’s win in the Final Four are not being investigated as crimes as of yet, police said Monday.
Ann Arbor police Lt. Renee Bush said there was only record of one couch set on fire Sunday morning in police notes from the weekend.
Officers responded at 3:25 a.m. Sunday to the intersection of White Street and McKinley Avenue for a report of a couch on fire, Bush said.
Officers found a small piece of furniture in the intersection that appeared to have been burned, but no one was in the area, Bush said. The investigation was turned over to the Ann Arbor Fire Department.
Bush said she was not aware of any criminal investigation into a possible arson.
“Not that I know of at this point,” she said. “It looks like it was turned over to the fire department for more investigation.”
Ann Arbor Fire Department officials confirmed they responded to four couch fires in the city after Saturday night’s game. Most occurred near midnight and were couches set fire in the street.
AnnArbor.com could not reach fire officials for more information Monday. Bush said there was no police record of responding to additional fires in Ann Arbor late Saturday night or early Sunday morning.
A video posted on YouTube shows revelers carrying a couch and tossing it onto an already-blazing fire while a crowd cheered. There were no injuries reported in any of the blazes Sunday morning.
Police are expecting another large crowd in Ann Arbor after Monday’s national championship game ends, Bush said. The game begins at 9:23 tonight in Atlanta.
“We’re ready for tonight,” she said.
Follow coverage of tonight's game at http://www.annarbor.com/sports/ and http://www.mlive.com/marchmadness/.
Kyle Feldscher covers cops and courts for AnnArbor.com. He can be reached at kylefeldscher@annarbor.com or you can follow him on Twitter.
Comments
Ken
Tue, Apr 9, 2013 : 12:41 p.m.
Register that couch and get a couch license.
JRW
Tue, Apr 9, 2013 : 1:27 a.m.
"-Future changes that will restore commenting directly on Wolverine sports articles and improve comment history are in development and coming soon on AnnArbor.com" Why hasn't commenting been restored on sports articles for aa dot com? This statement was written Aug 2012.
Joslyn at the U
Mon, Apr 8, 2013 : 11:23 p.m.
All this in A2 is mild compared to when the pistons swept lol. City wide I personally witnessed cars get flipped over in intersections , crap burn, stores broken into, and police cars with they're windows blown out and officers trying to ecape real pronto like. Now that was a celebration haha . As I said A2 is mild so don't complain y'all.
Poorman
Mon, Apr 8, 2013 : 11:22 p.m.
Now now kids, quit acting like Sparty. I know we are not use to basketball success, but pick a better role model.
Brad
Mon, Apr 8, 2013 : 10:19 p.m.
Only one answer - a Couch Conflagration Task Force!
Homeland Conspiracy
Mon, Apr 8, 2013 : 10:15 p.m.
I'm so glad that no Davenports or sofas were burnt
Balthazar Tarantula
Mon, Apr 8, 2013 : 9:04 p.m.
This is pretty funny considering the ban on couches on porches a while back that was put in place because of fire safety concerns..haha..
Tom Teague
Mon, Apr 8, 2013 : 8:55 p.m.
Unless the couches in question were taken from their rightful owners by force, or were burned as part of an insurance scam, or were occupied by one or more persons when they were set afire, I think the police are right to not pursue a criminal investigation.
towncryer
Mon, Apr 8, 2013 : 7:55 p.m.
the couch the couch the couch is on fire. we don't need no water...
Kai Petainen
Mon, Apr 8, 2013 : 6:22 p.m.
did they respond to it? I don't see it in the crime log http://tinyurl.com/cxm8z9z
Kyle Feldscher
Mon, Apr 8, 2013 : 7:02 p.m.
Kai- I meant to say I pointed it out on Twitter earlier this morning. I will now join the millions of calls for us to have an edit option on comments.
Kyle Feldscher
Mon, Apr 8, 2013 : 6:42 p.m.
Kai - I pointed out that they were missing from the CrimeMapping.com reports that were sent to me both Sunday and Monday. Bush said they responded to the one in the story, but it seems as if they were primarily AAFD calls.
Ian
Mon, Apr 8, 2013 : 6:06 p.m.
Whoever did this should be put to death.
Joslyn at the U
Mon, Apr 8, 2013 : 11:17 p.m.
Toooooooo funny lol
sigdiamond
Mon, Apr 8, 2013 : 8:44 p.m.
Tough but fair.
huh7891
Mon, Apr 8, 2013 : 5:53 p.m.
Mommy and Daddy would be so proud.......
Edward Green
Mon, Apr 8, 2013 : 5:12 p.m.
Sobriety at its finest. At least no one got violent...
Homeland Conspiracy
Mon, Apr 8, 2013 : 10:12 p.m.
Yet!
drewk
Mon, Apr 8, 2013 : 5:41 p.m.
Just wait. They will.
Kyle Feldscher
Mon, Apr 8, 2013 : 4:35 p.m.
Oddly enough, I was out in this area near midnight Sunday - as were numerous other AnnArbor.com staffers - and we didn't see any fires. It appears most of these were up and out in short order. Or were just really well hidden.
Kyle Austin
Mon, Apr 8, 2013 : 6:51 p.m.
By the time I got there, it was dead. Eerily dead, like everyone from the area had been dispersed.
Mac
Mon, Apr 8, 2013 : 4:19 p.m.
Act like you've been there before. Spartans do this crap. Not us.
Goofus
Mon, Apr 8, 2013 : 10:17 p.m.
Yes you do. 1989.
Jack Gladney
Mon, Apr 8, 2013 : 5:20 p.m.
Pretty ignorant comment, Mac when presented with video evidence to the contrary. BTW.. Who is the little girl repeatedly screaming, "Oh my god!" in the video?
tdw
Mon, Apr 8, 2013 : 4:58 p.m.
Well, it appears you do