Ascent Milwaukee apartment arson attempt, tenant gets probation
MILWAUKEE - A Milwaukee man accused of trying to set his Ascent luxury apartment on fire pleaded guilty and was sentenced to probation on Friday.
Prosecutors said 40-year-old Enrique Torres put aerosol cans inside a pot and put it in his oven, turning the oven on before fleeing the scene. He was convicted of two counts of arson of property other than a building.
Milwaukee police met firefighters at the apartment building at Van Buren and Kilbourn the afternoon of June 11, 2023. A building manager informed police of the situation, which unfolded on the 24th floor of the 25-story building known as the "largest wooden structure in the world," a criminal complaint states. Two hundred fifty-eight people live there.
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The complaint states the man's apartment smelled of smoke and burned plastic. A maintenance person told police he was asked to remove a pot from the apartment's oven before they arrived. Police looked at the pot and found three aerosol cans of what appeared to be sunscreen, a burned/melted plastic bottle with a substance inside and another burned/melted plastic bottle.
Police also spoke to an employee of New Land MKE, which owns the building. The complaint states that the employee heard Torres loudly singing "burn, burn, burn" in the lobby of the building. The employee later saw Torres walking away down Kilbourn while the incident unfolded.
Ascent Milwaukee apartment arson attempt, video released
A man's alleged attempt to light his downtown Milwaukee apartment on fire this summer was captured on video.
A lobby employee said, per the complaint, Torres seemed "unusual and irate" when they spoke earlier that day – saying "get out, get out, get out" and "everything is gonna burn, burn, burn."
Smoke filled the apartment and the hallway causing approximately $2,000 in smoke damage, the complaint states. Surveillance video from the hallway showed nobody other than Torres entered or exited his apartment when the incident occurred.