Woonsocket Arson Suspect Indicted

WOONSOCKET, RI – A federal grand jury has indicted a man accused of setting fires in a Woonsocket manufacturing plant in April on arson charges. Jacob E. Lahousse, 20, of no known address, was identified as a suspect through public tips after images from a security camera DVR were posted on the Rhode Island's Most Wanted website.

The RI U.S. Attorney's Office said on Tuesday that Lahousse was located and arrested on Thursday. He was ordered detained in federal custody by U.S. District Court Magistrate Judge Patricia A. Sullivan.

Woonsocket police said they responded to an alarm at Sport Systems Custom Bag Corporation about 1:30 a.m. on April 5 when they found smoke in the building and the sprinkler system activated. Police said a computer in the basement and papers on a desk on the first floor were found smoldering, and that the sprinkler system had worked to extinguish most of the fires before they arrived.

Police said an investigation revealed a break-in, smashed computers, ransacked offices and an attempted break-in of a safe. A DVR used to record security camera images was also damaged, but surveillance footage recovered from the DVR shows a person using a ladder to gain access to the building and stealing items from inside the building, according to court documents.

Court documents said surveillance shows the suspect taking down an American flag hanging in the building, folding it in military fashion and placing it in his backpack. According to court documents, the suspect is seen trying to remove his fingerprints from several items touched, putting on gloves and then disabling or destroying several video cameras.

Woonsocket Police and the Office of the State Fire Marshal investigated the case. U.S. Attorney Dulce Donovan is prosecuting.

An indictment is merely an accusation. A defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.