BELFAST, Maine — A local man has been arrested and charged with arson and insurance deception nine months after his small grocery store was gutted by fire.
Bail for Kyle J. Skinner, 35, of Belfast was set at $200,000, according to the Belfast police.
The Goose River Grocery and Trading Post on Swan Lake Avenue had closed for the night and was unoccupied when the fire started on the evening of July 15. After a Belfast firefighter drove by around 9 p.m. and noticed smoke in the road, he turned around and saw there was heavy smoke coming from the grocery store and flames coming out the rear window.
Altogether, two dozen firefighters responded and were able to quickly knock down the fire that appeared to have started in the kitchen, Chief Jim Richards of the Belfast Fire Department said the morning after the blaze.
After the fire, Skinner told the BDN that he and his wife had purchased the grocery store in April, and that they planned to rebuild the store they described as a neighborhood institution. He said that the building was insured.
“Of course, we’re sick about it,” he said then. “Life’s got to go on. We just keep going, doing the things we’ve got to do.”
A few weeks later, Belfast police said the fire had been intentionally set, and that they were investigating the arson along with the Maine fire marshal’s office.
On Friday, Belfast Police Chief Mike McFadden issued a news release that said Skinner had been charged with arson, insurance deception and attempted theft by deception.
Belfast police Detective Sgt. Bryan Cunningham and Maine Fire Marshal Stewart Jacobs were assisted in the investigation by individuals from federal and state agencies, including Jeffrey Cosgrove of the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms, Special Investigator Heidi Jordan of the National Insurance Crime Bureau and Analyst Mark Soucie of the Maine State Police Computer Crimes Unit.
“The investigation continues and further charges are expected to be brought at a later date,” McFadden wrote.
He said that in addition to being suspected of setting the fire, Skinner allegedly filed a false claim for damaged embroidery equipment. He also allegedly tried to sell a piece of heavy equipment to another party, falsely claiming that there was no lien on the equipment.
Skinner was taken to Waldo County Jail in Belfast, where he remained Friday evening, according to a jail official.
If convicted, he could face up to 30 years in prison and a fine of up to $50,000 for the charge of arson; up to 10 years in prison and a fine of up to $20,000 for the charge of insurance deception; and up to five years in prison and a fine of up to $10,000 for the charge of attempted theft by deception.