Danburymancharged in New Milford apartment arson had stalked woman who lived there, warrant shows
Aug. 6—The warrant said Davis had been stalking and harassing one of the residents of the Belair Drive apartment complex, resulting in multiple arrests on charges of disorderly conduct, second-degree harassment, second-degree stalking and violation of a protective order.
In October 2022, Davis was sentenced to three years of probation related to a November 2021 arrest involving charges of criminal trespass and interfering with an officer, judicial records show.
New Milford police said Davis was arrested in the arson fire "based on evidence collected on scene and further investigation by the detective bureau." Davis has not entered a plea to the fire-related charges and was held on $750,000 bond. He is scheduled to appear Tuesday in state Superior Court in Torrington, according to online court records.
The victim had previous restraining and protective orders against Davis, including a restraining order issued on Feb. 7, just over a week before the arson fire, the warrant said. Davis was also seen at the bus stop of Belair Drive on Feb. 14, according to the warrant.
At 10:47 p.m. Feb. 16, the New Milford police, the Water Witch Hose Co. No. 2, Gaylordsville Fire Co. and Northville Fire Co. all responded to the scene of the fire, which was extinguished within a half-hour.
The fire was ruled an "incendiary-type fire," or a blaze that has been deliberately started, by the New Milford Fire Marshal's Office and the Connecticut Police Fire Investigation Unit. A criminal investigation into the fire was initiated by New Milford police detectives.
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The fire displaced at least two people, including a father and his daughter, police said. According to the warrant, the father was in bed on the night of the fire when he heard breaking glass and footsteps on the rear stairs to the apartment. When he got out of bed, he saw a fire outside his rear hallway door and yelled to his daughter, who is a minor, that they needed to leave the apartment.
The two went to the parking lot, and the man returned briefly with a fire extinguisher, but realized he could not put out the blaze and went back outside to await the fire department.
The victim, who lives in the same complex as the man and his daughter, told the deputy fire marshal she believed Davis was responsible for starting the fire, according to the arrest warrant.
Davis was located by police at a New Milford residence on Feb. 17 and taken into custody, according to the warrant. His clothing was seized and submitted to the Department of Public Safety Forensic Laboratory in Meriden, where ignitable liquid residues was identified on the clothing, the warrant said.
In interviews with police, Davis gave contradictory information, the warrant said.
Regarding his whereabouts on Feb. 16, Davis said in his first police interview that he had spent the previous night at the New Milford residence where he was taken into custody, according to the warrant. He said he spent "a good portion" of Feb. 16 at that residence before visiting his brother in Cheshire, the warrant said. Davis estimated leaving his brother's house at 9:45 p.m. and arriving at the New Milford residence at 11 p.m., the warrant said.
When asked why photos and videos placed Davis and his vehicle at the Belair Drive apartment complex on Feb. 14, the warrant said, he said he was visiting a friend in the complex.
However, in his second interview, Davis said he slept at home in Danbury on Feb. 15 and drove to the New Milford residence on Feb. 16 before visiting his brother in Cheshire, the warrant said. He also denied ever saying that he had been at the complex on Feb. 14 "or ever being there, stating that he must have been confused," the warrant said.
Davis' phone was seized to be forensically examined on March 21, according to the warrant. The phone was brought to the FBI's Computer Analysis Response Team in New Haven on March 22 and the New Milford Police's Detective Bureau received a complete report on June 16.
The report on Davis' phone showed several web searches about the apartment complex and several location information records, including GPS coordinators that placed him in the southern parking lot area of the Belair apartment complex on Feb. 16 at 10:47 p.m., the warrant said.
A police search of Davis' vehicle on June 27 turned up a 5-gallon gas container inside the trunk, according to the warrant.
