York Arson Suspect Named; Held Without Bond

By WYDaily Staff Thursday, March 11, 2010

York-Poquoson Sheriff’s investigators have charged Napoleon Whitaker with one count of arson in connection with an apartment fire Wednesday afternoon.

Sheriff's spokesman Mike Russell said the 26-year-old Whitaker is charged with setting fire to his own apartment in the 200 block of Barham Boulevard in Yorktown. Previous reports listed the address as the 100 block of Whitt Court, which is where the 911 call originated.

Whitaker was in court Thursday morning where a judge ordered him held without bond.

Deputies who responded to the fire learned the fire may have been set intentionally along with suspect information. Believing the suspect was nearby, deputies set up a perimeter and soon located Whitaker, who was on foot on National Park Service property just south of the Coleman Bridge on Route 17, Russell said. Around 2:50 p.m. Whitaker was taken into custody for questioning without incident.

Russell said investigators have not established a motive for the arson.

Students at Yorktown Middle School, just east of the apartment complex, were delayed slightly getting home because of the search for the suspect. All after-school activities were also canceled as a precaution.

York County Department of Fire and Life Safety Capt. Paul Long said the fire started on a bed in an upstairs bedroom. Long said there was no evidence of an accelerant used to set the fire.

Long said firefighters from the Yorktown station, located just around the corner from the apartment complex, arrived within minutes and made an aggressive interior fire attack, which kept the fire from spreading to  five adjacent apartments. The fire was under control in 20 minutes.

Damage was set at $68,000, Long said.

The York department was assisted by units from the nearby Yorktown Naval Weapons Station and Newport News Fire Department.