Michael Perez (Fond du Lac Co. Jail)
FOND DU LAC, WI (WTAQ-WLUK) – A man who allegedly set fire to a Fond du Lac home was ordered Thursday to stand trial. One teen was injured escaping the blaze.
Michael Perez, 61, faces seven charges, including arson and reckless injury for the 2024 fire.
After testimony at a preliminary hearing, Perez was bound over for trial. No arraignment date was set.
The fire occurred around 11 p.m. Sept. 23 in the 200 block of Packer Street in a two-story upper/lower duplex.
The lone occupant in the residence at the time of the blaze, a 16-year-old girl, was asleep in her bedroom, according to the criminal complaint. She escaped the burning home from a second-story window, falling over 19 feet to the ground, suffering severe injuries.
Perez was identified as a person of interest in the fire and arrested on suspicion of arson. The complaint says Perez admitted to starting the fire in three separate interviews with police.
“Perez says he found gas on the east porch in a can, and poured it on the east side of the porch… Perez says he went to the house that night and watched… from a tree line south of the residence. Perez says he actually poured a line of gas away from the house so he wouldn’t have to be so close to the gas can when he lit the gas. There were two more interviews… Perez gives a different spin on the motive but, each time, Perez admits he lit the gasoline on fire to set the house on fire,” the complaint states.
A GoFundMe account was established for the victim, Jociana Schneider.
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