GUILTY: Jury returns verdict for 32-year-old man facing several charges for Union Grove arson fires

RACINE COUNTY (WITI) -- A 32-year-old Union Grove man facing several criminal charges in connection with arson fires set in Union Grove back in February 2013 has been found guilty by a jury.

Guilty verdicts were returned by the jury on Thursday, February 12th for Nicholas Sheen on the following charges:

The fires occurred on February 17th, 2013 at the following addresses:

The fire on 12th Avenue was discovered around 3:30 a.m. Racine County Sheriff's deputies responded to the address and learned the homeowner had been awakened by the smoke alarms going off. Smoke was observed coming from the downstairs area, and a member of the Racine County Arson Task Force determined a fire was intentionally set in the basement area.



While the deputy was investigating this fire, a criminal complaint says that deputy was informed of a garage fire at 1114 New Street -- just around the corner from the 12th Avenue home. The homeowner told the deputy he had been awakened by police banging on his door, informing him that his garage was on fire. That homeowner told the deputy he had eight or nine bags full of shredded paperwork in his garage, and they were nowhere to be found.



A Racine County Arson Task Force member determined this fire was set using an accelerant.

Racine County Sheriff's deputies responded to the home at 1116 Elizabeth Street around noon on February 17th. There, they learned from the homeowners that plastic sheeting on their home's three season porch had been burned and melted.

Garage fire on New Street in Union Grove

An investigator noticed footprints in the snow, leading from State Street to the home on 12th Avenue, then to the home on New Street, and finally to the home on Elizabeth Street, according to the complaint.

Investigators asked the woman who lives at the home on 12th Avenue if she suspected anyone may have deliberately set fire to her residence, and that woman identified Nicholas Sheen -- a man she said was a former tenant. The complaint indicates this woman told investigators Sheen had lived at the home on 12th Avenue, as well as the home on New Street.

Investigators made contact with Sheen later on the afternoon on February 17th. Sheen's boots matched the footwear impressions left at the scene of the fires, according to the complaint.

House fire on 12th Avenue in Union Grove

Sheen told investigators he knew about the fires because his father had driven by them. The complaint indicates Sheen told investigators he had spent the night at the R&R Club, and that he had been driven home by a woman who sat with him at the bar. Investigators spoke with that woman, who told them she did not give Sheen a ride home. In fact, she told investigators she called her boyfriend to pick her up from the bar.

Investigators took a look at surveillance video from the bar, which showed Sheen leaving around 2:30 a.m. by himself, the complaint says.

Eventually, it was determined that the footprints found at the scene of the fires were coming from the R&R Club. Furthermore, the footprints continued eastbound from 1116 Elizabeth Street to Sheen's home on Mill Avenue.

Sheriff's investigators searched Sheen's laptop and found a number of photographs of fire-damaged buildings. One of those buildings was identified as the American Legion building on New Street in Union Grove. Additionally, the search uncovered YouTube searches for local fires. Those searches centered around February of 2013, the complaint says.

At the time of the fires, Sheen was out on bond in another case out of Racine County. As a condition of this bond, he was to engage in no new criminal activity.

In this case, Nicholas Sheen's bond has been revoked. He'll be sentenced on April 28th.

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