Weekend at Sunset Trailer Park on Central Avenue was most recent
COLONIE – Colonie police arrested a homeless man in two fires in the town on Wednesday, Oct. 10 after an investigation.
On Saturday, October 7th , at approximately 6:00 AM, the Colonie Police Department responded to 2177 Central Avenue, the Sunset Trailer Park, for a report of a trailer on fire. The Stanford Heights, Midway, and Colonie Village Fire Departments responded to extinguish the fire and the Town of Colonie Fire Services assisted in the investigation into the cause of the fire.
Following a brief investigation, information was developed that a homeless individual, Michael J. Kabler, 49, had been occupying the trailer. He was located nearby, and police determined that Kabler was responsible for igniting the fire, which caused damage to the trailer.
No other structures were damaged and no one was injured.
Kabler was also questioned about a fire which occurred on May 18, in the parking lot of a business on Railroad Avenue. This fire occurred in a camping trailer which had been parked for storage.
In that incident, the Fuller Road and the West Albany Fire Departments responded to extinguish the fire, and the Town of Colonie Fire Services assisted with this investigation as well. Probable cause was developed to charge Kabler with setting the fire on Railroad Avenue in May.
Kabler was taken into custody and charged with two counts of criminal mischief, two counts of arson and one count of burglary, all felonies, and one count of criminal trespass, a misdemeanor.
These charges are for both the October 7 and the May 18 fires.
The defendant was arraigned in Colonie Town Court and was released to the supervision of Albany County Probation, pending a future court appearance.
This is still an active and ongoing investigation. If you know something that might be relevant to this investigation, please contact the Colonie Police Investigations Division at 518-783-2754. If you wish to report a tip anonymously, you can call Capital Region Crimestoppers at 1-833-ALB-TIPS, or go to capitalregioncrimestoppers.com.
