ROCHESTER HILLS ? Oxford High School student Nathaniel Gene Bennett, 18, was bound over for trial Tuesday to Oakland County Circuit Court on felony charges of arson, breaking and entering of a vehicle to steal property and malicious destruction of personal property.
If convicted, Bennett faces a maximum penalty of up to five years in prison and/or a $10,000 fine for each felony count.
Bennett, who was arraigned Jan. 28, is accused of setting fire to a construction bus parked at Oxford Middle School lot on the night of Jan. 15. He’s also accused of breaking into three school buses parked at the district’s bus garage on Lakeville Road and stealing two Motorola radios from them earlier that night.
Bennett pleaded not guilty and is being held in Oakland County Jail in lieu of 10 percent of a $25,000 bond.
Although Bennett waived his right to a preliminary examination before 52-3 District Chief Judge Julie Nicholson, Oakland County Assistant Prosecutor Ian Simons called one witness, a 16-year-old Oxford High School girl who was with Bennett on the night of the alleged incidents, to the stand for the purpose of “preserving” her testimony.
The girl testified that Bennett and her boyfriend, a 16-year-old Oxford High School student who’s the son of an Oakland County Sheriff’s Deputy, drove to her house that night and asked her if she wanted to go to the Oxford Meijer to get some soda pop. The car, a 1993 Chevy Corsica, was owned and driven by the 16-year-old boy.
The three drove to Meijer, got their beverages, returned to the girl’s house and sat in the car talking, the witness said.
The girl said her sister’s boyfriend came to the house, got in the car with them and went for a drive with them to Oxford High School, where the 16-year-old driver did some “donuts” on the pavement.
After that, the group returned to the girl’s house, dropped off her sister’s boyfriend and drove back to the high school to see the marks the car left on the pavement, according to witness testimony.
They parked the car next to a van, the side of which Bennett “keyed,” leaving a scratch, the witness said.
Bennett attempted to bust open the passenger-side window of the van using his hand, but was unsuccessful, she said. The witness stated Bennett then hit the window with his elbow and “cracked” it open.
The 16-year-old boy then broke the rear passenger-side window of the van, she said.
After that, the girl said they all left the high school parking lot, drove around Oxford and returned to the high school for a third time.
Bennett told the girl and 16-year-old boy that he wanted to go over to the bus garage, so the couple waited in the car and talked while Bennett went over alone, according to witness testimony.
About 10 minutes later, Bennett returned to the car “holding something” under his coat, she said.
The girl testified that once in the car, Bennett took out two radios and set them down.
After that, the trio left the high school and went over to the Oxford Middle School to do some more donuts with the car, she said.
They parked the car in the south lot next to a 1974 GMC school bus, used by the Novi-based Jack D. Anglin Company to store construction tools and equipment.
The witness testified that Bennett “busted out” a passenger-side window on the bus and the 16-year-old boy “busted” the window next to it.
The 16-year-old boy tried to kick the glass out of the door, but the force opened it instead, she said.
Bennett “leaned” inside the bus from the first or second step and then “jumped back out” with some flares in his possession, the witness said.
The sheriff’s report stated that a “plastic cap to a flare” was found on the ground near the bus door.
Although she’s not sure who lit the first flare, the girl said it was dropped on the ground about one or two feet away from the bus.
Bennett then picked up the flare and moved it closer to a tire, underneath the bus, she said.
When they left the middle school parking lot, the girl testified that Bennett still had two flares with him.
One of the flares Bennett lit and left on the ground somewhere during their drive, she said.
The three teens then returned to the middle school for a second time.
Bennett and the 16-year-old driver got out of the car and went inside the bus together, while the girl remained in the car, according to witness testimony.
Although the witness admitted that it was dark and she couldn’t see everything they were doing inside because the bus was higher up than the car, she testified that she saw Bennett light the last remaining flare and noted that he “held it down.”
She said she thought he was maybe melting a seat.
A “second later” the 16-year-old exited the bus and “jogged” toward the car, but Bennett remained inside, she said.
“He was in a hurry to get away from that bus,” the girl testified. “All of the sudden the (inside of the) bus got a lot brighter.”
The girl testified to seeing fire on the tops of the bus seats, rising up toward the windows.
She said Bennett then exited the bus.
On cross-examination, the girl told defense attorney Josh Arnkoff she thought Bennet carried the flare into the bus, but she wasn’t sure.
She also told Arnkoff that she “just assumed” the fire was started by the flare, but wasn’t “100 percent sure.” The girl admitted that she “couldn’t fully tell exactly every single thing that happened in the bus.”
Arnkoff asked her if the 16-year-old boy ever showed her a propane tank that night. She replied no.
Arnkoff asked the judge to reduce Bennett’s bond to 10 percent of a $500 bond because he has no history of failing to appear in court and his prior criminal record is comprised of some juvenile offenses that occurred when he was 12 and 13 years old.
The defense attorney said Bennett has a mother that wants him home and “strong family support.”
Simons argued the 10 percent of $25,000 bond was “reasonable” given the three felony counts against Bennett.
Nicholson said the charges were “pretty serious” and agreed with the prosecutor than the current bond was reasonable.
The judge then added some conditions to Bennett’s bond including that he’s to have no contact with any school buildings or equipment in the Oxford area, wear a GPS tether and reside with his parents at all times.
According to the Simons and Oakland County Sherriff’s investigator Ken Alderman, no charges have been issued yet against either the girl who testified or the 16-year-old boy who was driving the car. Alderman noted that the girl has been “very cooperative.”
Following the alleged crimes, in the early morning hours of Jan. 16, the three teenagers fled across the Ambassador Bridge to Windsor, Ontario in Canada, where Bennett was arrested by Canadian customs officials and convicted of three counts of violating Canada’s Customs Act.
He was sentenced to eight days in jail by an Ontario Court of Justice, but the four days he spent in custody was credited as time served for the entire sentence. He was deported back to the United States on Jan. 20.