The father of the infant who was killed in an arson fire last week is scheduled to appear in court Tuesday on a charge of possession of stolen property.
Cordell Brown said the police officers seized 24 fire extinguishers from his house in April, and he was charged with possession of stolen property under $5,000.
Brown said he bought the fire extinguishers in March from a man he met on Kijiji. He said he met the man in a parking lot and paid $20 for each extinguisher.
“I didn’t steal them,” he told CBC News on Monday. “I bought them. I paid for them.”
Brown said he likes to have multiple fire extinguishers because as a teenager he worked on a construction project at one of his mother’s houses where there was an electrical fire. Since then, he said, he is careful to have a fire extinguisher handy.
“I always am fearful of fires, so I keep them in my vehicles, in the houses,” he siad. “I keep them everywhere in the garage, just because you never know if there’s going to be a fire.”
Twenty-four fire extinguishers were reported stolen from Mactaggart Ridge Gate condos this spring. A former property manager said each extinguisher was worth about $100.
In preparation for his court date, Brown said he had gathered receipts from the Kijiji purchase and from other fire extinguishers he bought at Home Depot.
“I had a whole stack of everything that I was going to take to court,” he said.
But all those documents, he said, were destroyed in the house fire.
Brown said he tried to access his messages with the man he met on Kijiji but found out his account has been suspended.
He said he’s not optimistic about what will happen in court.
“I’m pretty sure that they’ve solved the case and consider me as the person responsible for it,” he said.
Tammerand out on bail
Brown was one of eight people sent to the hospital after an arson fire at 1040 Armitage Cres. in south Edmonton last week. Brown’s five-month-old son died from smoke inhalation, and his wife, Angie Tang, is in hospital in critical condition.
Two teens were arrested last Friday in connection with the fire. Both were former tenants of Brown.
Court records show the 18-year-old girl who was charged has been released on $5,000 bail. Jessica Tammerand faces charges of arson, disregard for human life and mischief under $5,000.
Bronson Woycenko is charged with the same crimes. He faces an additional charge of second-degree murder in the death of Hunter Brown.
Woycenko remains in police custody.
Both accused are set to appear in court this Friday.