By BOB OLIVER
Sunday Times Newspapers
DEARBORN — A fire that consumed the high-jump landing pad for the Dearborn High School track team is suspected of being an act of arson. Police are still investigating the incident.
The fire occurred on May 5 just before 1 a.m. near the high school’s track. Police responded after receiving calls of the fire through 911.
Police investigating the scene found what appeared to be fresh graffiti written on the cement with chalk to the immediate west of the pad. Two messages were written there, the first said “MOE” (possibly “MDE”) and the second said “Oliver hey guys.”
Close to the graffiti was what appeared to be a trail leading to the main site of the fire. The trail appeared to police to be from an accelerant. It had been burned into the track.
Little remained of the pad after the fire beside a few smaller pieces of its covering material. A search of the area yielded nothing else of an evidentiary nature.
DHS Principal Chuck Baughman said he had no comment on the investigation other than the school is working with police to discover who committed the crime so that they can be brought to justice.
Anyone with more information is asked to contact the Dearborn Police Department at 313-943-2240.
(Bob Oliver can be reached at [email protected].)