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Apr 8, 2009 10:36 pm US/Central
Firefighter Charged With Setting Carlos Avery Fire
ANOKA, Minn. (AP) ―
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John David Berken, a Forest Lake volunteer firefighter, was charged April 8, 2009 with wildfire arson, for allegedly starting a fire that burned near and in the Carlos Avery Wildlife Management Area. (File)
Anoka County Jail
A Forest Lake firefighter was charged with arson Wednesday in the fire that burned more than 1,500 acres in and around the Carlos Avery Wildlife Refuge north of the Twin Cities.
Prosecutors charged John David Berken, 40, with wildfire arson, a felony. Bail was set at $50,000. He was being held in the Anoka County Jail on Wednesday afternoon.
The criminal complaint said witnesses saw a man appearing to set a fire Monday by launching fireworks out of the passenger window of his car window into a ditch. The witness called 911 and was able to give police both a license number and description of the man.
Sheriff's deputies traced the car's license plate to Berken, court documents said. Investigators found fireworks in Berken's home and an explosive sniffing dog detected residue on Berken's car window and his fire gloves.
Berken was arrested as he helped fight the blaze, which forced some people to evacuate their homes but didn't destroy any buildings.
An attorney for Berken didn't immediately return telephone messages from The Associated Press.
Berken is a decorated firefighter who has been with the Forest Lake department since 2005. In 2006, he and three other firefighters were honored for rescuing a snowmobiler in the St. Croix River.
"John Berken was the pillar of the community," said friend Rob Lasiuta. "This would probably be the last thing he would do in my opinion."
Anoka County Sheriff's Lt. Paul Sommer said investigators don't really know why Berken might have started the fire, but he pointed to Berken's history of unusual behavior. "This is just sort of a continuation of that," he said.
In 1991, records show he was convicted of calling the Flying Cloud Airport in Eden Prairie, adopting a Middle Eastern accent and threatening to blow it up.
In a separate incident, he allegedly contacted an airport traffic control tower and told controllers that the pilot of his aircraft had a heart attack and that he needed help landing the plane.
Investigators searched his apartment and found a radio transmitter and other equipment. He was sentenced in federal court to a year in prison for making false radio transmissions.
Court records also indicate Berken has several check-forgery and theft convictions and served about 20 months in prison in the mid-1990s.
Sommer said Berken, who owned a now-closed car dealership in Forest Lake, was also known to appear a competitors businesses dressed up like a police officer in tactical clothing with a duty belt, although he wasn't armed. Sommer said Berken never actually claimed to be an officer, however.
"He's got a history of these sorts of odd behaviors that call attention to himself and causes some sort of public panic," Sommer said.
The city of Forest Lake sent out a statement Wednesday, saying that in 2005, Berken applied to be a volunteer firefighter and underwent a background check, which revealed his prior convictions. Because of this, he was not hired. But he appealed that decision to the then-mayor, who directed that Berken be hired under an extended probationary period, which ended in 2008.
Former Mayor Terry Smith said that he made the right decision at the time.
(© 2009 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)
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