University of Michigan senior charged with arson
A University of Michigan senior was charged today with setting a fire inside a university residence hall in March in an attempt to intimidate another student with whom he had a disagreement over a drug deal, police said.
Timothy James Burke, 26, of Macomb, is charged with arson of a dwelling, University of Michigan police spokeswoman Diane Brown said.
No one was injured in the March 26 blaze in front of a resident's door inside the West Quad residence hall, police said.
Burke's apparent intended victim did not live in the area, police said.
The fire, which was quickly extinguished by the building's sprinkler system, caused about $500 damage, authorities said.
Burke, who turned himself in, was arraigned this afternoon in the 15th District Court and was released on a personal recognizance bond, Brown said.
He faces up to 20 years in prison if convicted of the felony offense, Brown said.
Comments
phdeez
Tue, Jul 28, 2009 : 10:02 a.m.
nice catch trhaynes. i have been worried that annarbor.com would be just a blog report that just grabs from already available sources instead of doing original reporting. The author should have noted, "according to the police report..."
Sarcastic1
Tue, Jul 28, 2009 : 8:38 a.m.
Nice job by the investigators at UofM Public Safety.
susan
Tue, Jul 28, 2009 : 7:52 a.m.
Snooty, typically arrogant U.of M. attitude that "faster" made.
Trek Glowacki
Mon, Jul 27, 2009 : 8:27 p.m.
Timothy Burke's Michigan directory profile lists his affiliation as "alumni" (the registrar updates this information automatically; it is not user-editable). His facebook profile shows an '09 graduation date.
faster
Mon, Jul 27, 2009 : 7:53 p.m.
26 year old senior?? We are talking about UofM and not MSU?
MjC
Mon, Jul 27, 2009 : 5:23 p.m.
Your point is well taken trh... it's still a sad story.
trhaynes
Mon, Jul 27, 2009 : 4:09 p.m.
@MJC There are 41,000 students at UM. You think you can pick 41,000 perfect people after reading their essays?
MjC
Mon, Jul 27, 2009 : 3:15 p.m.
This is a sad story when you think about how difficult it is to get into the UofM. Carefully reviewing college applications doesn't always lead to choosing the leaders and best...