Shelton cops responding to a fire call at a Bridgeport Avenue business June 8 arrived to discover a chilling scenario — an Ansonia man who worked at the business covered in burns, saying he had been forced at gunpoint to help set the blaze.
Almost immediately, though, police doubted the employee’s story — and within two days they had obtained a warrant charging him with the arson.
The man, Allister James, was ordered held on $250,000 bond Thursday (June 18) by Judge Peter Brown at Superior Court in Derby.
The fire was reported about 12:30 a.m. June 8 and was put out by sprinklers within the building, but not before doing more than $10,000 in damage.
According to the warrant, written by Detective John Hubyk, as police and firefighters responded to the fire call at James’ workplace — Honey Cell, a packaging company at 600 Bridgeport Ave. — cops received a 911 call from James, who was at a nearby commuter parking lot.
James told police that he had been watching a basketball game at his home on North Street in Ansonia and “went out for a ride to clear his head” afterward.
He said he headed to the McDonald’s on Division Street in Derby, pulling into the parking lot of the BJ’s gas station next door about 11:30 p.m.
As he parked, he told police, a Jeep parked two spots away from him, and two men got out.
He then said they approached his vehicle. One was holding a shotgun.
James told police that the men told him that if he followed their directions “no one would get hurt.”
He said the men threatened him by showing him photographs of his children, house and girlfriend.
He was ordered to follow the Jeep, which drove on to Route 8 south to exit 12, eventually stopping in a wooded area off Beard Saw Mill Road. He said he was then ordered into the Jeep, which one of the kidnappers drove to Honey Cell.
There, he told police he was given a hammer and ordered to break into the business, then douse his boss’ office in gasoline.
He told cops he complied, but that as he was splashing gas around the room, one of the men threw a lit piece of paper into the office, setting the room and himself on fire.
He ran out of the office, through a warehouse with third shift employees working, and ran back to where he had left his car. He said he then drove to Derby, decided to call police, then returned to Shelton to meet with cops.
According to the warrant, cops went to interview James at Bridgeport Hospital, where he was being treated for second- and third-degree burns covering 11 percent of his body.
There, they told him his story didn’t add up.
“This detective told James that it did not seem logical that two black males that he does not know approached him in a parking lot and took him to his place of employment at gunpoint,” the warrant says.
James insisted he was telling the truth.
Hubyk then asked James if he was having any problems with his boss. James said no.
But the detective then pointed out that James’ boss had told cops he had cited James for being late to work, and that James was going to be fired after walking away from work June 5.
James said he didn’t know anything about that, repeating his story, but this time adding “to the best of my recollection” at parts.
“Persons who do this when recounting a story are not being truthful,” Hubyk wrote in the warrant, which also noted that James’ burns — to his arms, chest, and head, but not his lower body — “are not consistent with someone who is standing in a gasoline-soaked environment when someone else throws a lit paper or match into the room.”
The detective asked James if he might have some mental issue causing him to imagine or see things. James said he wasn’t aware of anything, but added that “he would like to be tested to see if this was happening and that he would like to receive treatment if it is.”
Hubyk then pointed out other inconsistencies in James’ story — for example, why, when he ran out of the burning office, did he not alert any of the employees working at the business about the fire, or the alleged armed men outside who had just kidnapped him? And why would the kidnappers have allowed him to keep his cell phone, which he used to call police after allegedly driving to Derby and then back to Shelton?
“There was no evidence discovered to support Allister James’ claim of being kidnapped,” Hubyk wrote.
James faces charges of first-degree arson, first-degree burglary, first-degree reckless endangerment, and first-degree criminal mischief.
He is scheduled to return to Superior Court in Derby July 7.
