Ohio man accused of breaking into dollar store to steal lighter fluid to set house on

BUENA VISTA TWP, MI — A Cincinnati man is accused of breaking into a dollar store to steal lighter fluid, then trying to set a nearby house on fire.

At 11:12 p.m. on Sunday, May 15, Buena Vista police officers responded to a break-in at the Dollar General at 3545 Dixie Highway. The business was closed but someone had damaged the building to gain entry, said Detective Alexis Frierson.

Stolen from the store were bottles of lighter fluid, Frierson said.

Just minutes later at 11:24 p.m., officers were dispatched to an occupied residence on Brunkow Court in response to someone trying to set the house ablaze, Frierson said.

“According to the victims, he tried burning down their residence,” Frierson said. “He not only threatened them, he poured lighter fluid on their porch, on their back deck, and alongside the side.”

The man did not manage to start a fire, fleeing the scene before officers arrived. Officers found him nearby, though, and arrested him without incident.

Police identified the suspect as 18-year-old Antonio D. Braylock. The residents of the house he allegedly tried burning are related to him, Frierson said.

Braylock hails from Cincinnati and its unknown what brought him to Saginaw County, the detective said.

“Allegedly, he set his mother’s apartment on fire in Ohio,” Frierson said. “To her knowledge, she did not know he had traveled here to Saginaw.”

Braylock on Wednesday, May 18, appeared before Saginaw County District Judge A.T. Frank for arraignment on single counts of arson-preparing to burn a building, breaking and entering with intent, and malicious destruction of property less than $200. The first two charges are 10-year felonies, while the third count is a 93-day misdemeanor.

Braylock’s next court date is pending.

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