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Fire suspect to be arraigned Nov. 27

JANESVILLE—The man charged in connection with the burglary and fire that caused some $100,000 damage Nov. 3 at the Odd Fellows Lodge in Janesville waived his right to a preliminary hearing Monday.

Jeremy A. Brown, 24, Homewood, Ala., will appear in court next on Tuesday, Nov. 27, for an arraignment. He is expected to enter pleas to charges of burglary, felony damage and misdemeanor theft.

Brown has not been charged with arson though fire and smoke damaged the Independent Order of Odd Fellows Wisconsin Lodge 14 and police initially listed arson among the preliminary charges when they arrested Brown.

Assistant district attorney Scott Dirks said he might not file an arson charge because to win a conviction, he must prove that Brown not only started the fire but also that he set the fire intentionally. Brown, a long-haul truck driver, was found covered in soot inside the burning, smoke-filled building shortly before 5 a.m. Nov. 3, according to the criminal complaint against him.

He told officers at the scene that he had been drinking at Quotes, a bar on the ground level of the Odd Fellows building at 22 N. Main St., and had gone back into the building after the bar closed to find a bathroom, according to the criminal complaint.

Brown told officers he could not remember what happened between the time he re-entered the building and the time he was found by firefighters, according to the complaint.