Man sought in connection with fire at Habitat for Humanity store in Fort Lauderdale

Man caught on camera in area before and at time of fire, police say

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. – Fort Lauderdale police are searching for a man who they believe might have started a fire last month at a Habitat for Humanity resale store.

According to authorities, the fire occurred around 12:12 a.m. March 18 at the store at 505 E. Broward Blvd.

Police said the fire erupted in a dumpster at the loading dock of the building.

"For the life of us, we don't know why this individual would do this," Habitat ReStore Fort Lauderdale general manager Casey Huber said. 

No one was injured and there was minimal damage to the building itself, authorities said.

Police reviewed surveillance video from the day before, which they said shows a man near the dumpster moments before the camera is disconnected.

Additional video shows what appears to be the same man later approaching the dumpster at the time of the fire.

"We saw him on the camera pull something out of the dumpster -- a long stick. He kind of hid it, went passed our camera and a few minutes later the camera starts shaking," Huber said. 

Huber told Local 10 News reporter Trent Kelly that a dumpster fire also occurred last week at the organization's resale store in Boca Raton.

Fort Lauderdale police confirmed they are investigating a possible connection between the two incidents. 

Anyone with information about the man's identity is asked to call Detective J. Knapp at 954-828-4787 or Broward Crime Stoppers at 954-493-8477.


About the Authors:

Amanda Batchelor is the Digital Executive Producer for Local10.com.

Trent Kelly is an award-winning multimedia journalist who joined the Local 10 News team in June 2018. Trent is no stranger to Florida. Born in Tampa, he attended the University of Florida in Gainesville, where he graduated with honors from the UF College of Journalism and Communications.