Allen County, Indiana — Thursday, a downtown building, Markey Bonding, caught fire after a man allegedly assembled a “Molotov cocktail,” causing the elevator to catch fire and fleeing out of a window and falling while scaling the building.
Emmanuel K. Collier, 41, is charged with two counts of arson, criminal mischief, resisting law enforcement, and arson with bodily injury. He faces an additional charge of possessing, manufacturing, and distributing a destructive device.
According to court records, officers responded to reports of a suspect on a roof and a structure fire. When officers arrived on the scene, a witness informed them that they had seen a black man climbing the “natural gas plumbing” on the west wall of the building, according to court documents.
When FWPD officers entered the building and opened the staircase door, they found heavy smoke. According to court documents, officers located the suspect, identified as Collier, on the third floor. According to court documents, Collier broke through a window, slid down a building sign, and lowered himself onto a canopy instead of following commands. According to court documents, the suspect fell from the canopy and landed in decorative planter boxes.
Officers then took Collier into custody. According to court documents, he was transported to a local hospital for treatment of his injuries. After being apprehended, Collier told officers that “he did not start the fire” and that he wanted his lawyer.
According to court documents, Collier entered the building via a hole in the floor of the old elevator. According to court documents, Collier allegedly poured liquid from a can labeled “tape primer” down the elevator shaft before assembling a “Molotov Cocktail” with a metal can of an unknown substance and a piece of cloth. He then threw it down the elevator shaft, starting the fire.
According to court documents, “Emmanuel K. Collier did by means of fire, knowingly and intentionally, damage the property of another person under circumstances that endangered human life, and resulted in bodily injury to two FWPD officers, by using a destructive incendiary device to ignite fire in the structure’s elevator shaft.” The suspect’s attempt to use this incendiary device endangered the lives of others in the immediate structure and other potential occupants of the connected structures.”
Collier is currently housed in the Allen County Jail. He has an initial hearing on June 17.
