Warehouse manager accused of stealing $233K in copper products, then setting fire to building in Morris County
BOONTON, NJ (Morris County) – A Newark man has been charged in connection with a November 2024 commercial warehouse fire in Boonton, where it is alleged that Fields stole copper products and set the fire to conceal the theft, according to Morris County Prosecutor Robert Carroll.
On November 3, 2024, at around 8:13 p.m., the Boonton Police and Fire Departments responded to a commercial warehouse fire at 95 Fulton Street. Fire was observed in the warehouse area as well as in a separately secured section leased by a pharmaceutical supply company. The Boonton Fire Department extinguished the two-alarm blaze with assistance from mutual aid companies from surrounding jurisdictions, Carroll said.
A subsequent investigation identified multiple points of origin, a heavy odor of petroleum, and other signs that the fire had been intentionally set. Investigators recovered a gasoline-type canister nozzle and obtained video surveillance depicting two masked individuals enter the warehouse shortly before the fire, Carroll said.
During the investigation law enforcement, learned approximately $233,000 worth of copper materials had gone missing from the interiors of equipment belonging to another company using the warehouse.
Further investigation placed the warehouse manager, Davon Fields, 45, at the warehouse late at night on November 1 and again on November 3, 2024, at the time of the arson. It is also alleged that Fields visited a scrapyard on both November 1 and November 2, selling significant quantities of copper on each occasion.
Fields was charged on January 13 with two counts of second-degree aggravated arson, two counts of second-degree conspiracy to commit aggravated arson, three counts of third-degree burglary, third-degree theft, three counts of third-degree criminal mischief, third-degree fencing, third-degree attempted tampering with evidence, third-degree attempted hindering, and possession of burglary tools.
Pursuant to the Criminal Justice Reform Act, Fields has been detained at the Morris County Correctional Facility pending future court proceedings.
