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A popular fire videographer, Alex Haggart, was arrested Sunday night by Detroit arson investigators. The arrests stems from a citizens arrest he made of an arsonist earlier this month, Steve Neavling of Motor City Muckraker reports.
Haggart is been charged with carrying a concealed weapon with an expired license. He is a contributor to Motor City Muckraker.
The arrest occurred shortly after 10 p.m. when officers surrounded and handcuffed Haggart and a friend just after they arrived to document a commercial building fire at the border of Hamtramck and Detroit.
His friend, a photojournalist, was handcuffed for about an hour and then released.
Haggart, 36, used his pistol to make the citizen’s arrest earlier this month after catching a woman setting fire to a commercial building at Whittier and Lakepointe on Detroit’s east side, Neavling reports. Haggart had posted a video on Facebook in which he's heard saying he held the arsonist at gunpoint for about 10 minutes and had an expired CPL.
Neavling writes:
Haggart’s arrest comes less than a week after arson investigators raided Haggart’s home in St. Clair Shores and seized his car, phone, computer, camera, drone, scanners and even his children’s electronic tablets.
The Fire Department’s handling of the case has unleashed a firestorm of criticism and claims that fire officials were heavy handed and retaliatory. A week before the raid, Haggart exposed Deputy Detroit Fire Chief Robert Shinske for violating department policy by using a city vehicle to visit a Dearborn bar. Haggart also tipped us off about a suspected serial arsonist who was on the loose on the east side this month.
