Owner of building that exploded in Michigan arrested at airport while trying to leave US, authorities say

CLINTON TOWNSHIP, Mich. (AP) — The owner of a suburban Detroit business that caught fire and exploded, killing one man, was arrested at a New York airport as he prepared to leave for Hong Kong. Kong with a one-way ticket, according to authorities. said Friday.

U.S. Customs and New York Port Authority personnel arrested Noor Noel Kestou, 31, at John F. Kennedy International Airport on Saturday. He was flown back to Michigan on Wednesday.

Kestou, of Commerce Township, was arraigned Thursday on charges of involuntary manslaughter.

The March 4 fire and explosion occurred at a Clinton Township building that housed a vaping industry distributor called Goo. More than 100,000 vape pens were stored on site. Authorities said a truckload of butane canisters arrived at the building less than a week after the explosion that sent the canisters up to 2 miles (3.2 kilometers) away, and more than half of that stockpile was still there when the fire started.

Turner Lee Salter, 19, was about 0.40 kilometers away when he was struck by a nitrous oxide canister that was propelled into the air by the explosion. Salter later died.

Authorities said they received information on April 20 that Kestou was trying to travel to Hong Kong.

“We don’t know what his ultimate goal was,” Macomb County Prosecutor Peter Lucido told reporters Friday. “Was it to stay out of the country with a wife and child here? No one has a crystal ball to determine who is a flight risk.

“He was suspicious from the beginning, being the owner of this business,” Lucido added. “Anyone who owns a business and something like this happens should be considered a suspect.”

Goo had received an occupancy permit from the township in September 2022 for the 26,700 square foot (2,480 square meter) building as a retail location for a “tobacco store/vape store” that would sell accessories for vape products, Clinton Township Building Department. said.

Kestou was released after posting $500,000 bail. Lucido said authorities had his passport and one of the bail conditions was that Kestou had to wear a GPS tether. A probable cause hearing is scheduled for May 7 in Clinton Township District Court.

Kestou’s attorney, James Thomas, said Thursday he had no comment on the case.