Man charged with arson in business fire
A Cape Coral man was arrested after he was caught on a security camera as he set a fire at Volk Electric on Friday morning, officials said Saturday.
Cape Coral Police arrested Brandon Charles Deshon, 24, of 911 Andalusia Boulevard and charged him with arson Friday. Deshon also was charged with arson with bodily injury, burglary conveyance and grand theft.
He was released from the Lee County jail today on bond.
Fire units had responded to the commercial structure fire at 2215 NE 10th Terrace at 6:04 a.m. April 10. When crews arrived, a vehicle parked in front of the building was fully engulfed and flames from the vehicle had spread to the building. Firefighters doused the flames but not before the fire burned 25 percent of the building and caused $175,000 in damage, officials said.
The business owner’s son, Robert Anthony Volk Jr., was staying at the location and attempted to put out the fire in his vehicle. Due to the extent of the blaze, he retreated back inside the building to retrieve his dog and her puppies. While evacuating the puppies, he sustained second and third degree burns on his arm. Firefighters were able to rescue the adult dog.
Video surveillance showed Deshon arriving at the location and removing several items from the vehicle, officials said Saturday. He then attempted to ignite the interior of vehicle using a lighter but the lighter extinguished when Deshon closed the door. He then used an aerosol can from inside the vehicle to restart the fire and then fanned the flames using the driver side door, officials said.
During the investigation, Deshon was identified as the person in the video, and he was taken into custody by Cape police officers. Post Miranda, Deshon confessed to taking the items from the vehicle and starting the fire, officials said.
Source: Cape Coral Police Department