Four arrests made after building arson

An argument on top of an abandoned oil storage facility resulted in four arrests.

A call came in about 2:25 a.m. Monday from two people who said they were trapped in the old Monroe County Oil, Co. building at 229 W. First St. and that it was on fire, Bloomington Police Department Sgt. Jeff Canada said.

Hubert Bray, 40, and Samantha Lindsey, 26, both of Bloomington, told police Isaac Collins, 37, of Bloomington and Angela Riley, 26, of Ellettsville locked them in a “hut” on the roof of the building and then started a fire underneath.

Lindsey and Bray said they told Collins and Riley they couldn’t stay in the hut because of an argument about relationship issues, Canada said.

Bray said Collins tried to break into the hut, so Bray blocked it. Collins reportedly told Lindsey and Bray he was going to kill them and smoke them out of the building.

Bray said he heard Collins tell Riley to put a padlock on the door. Collins allegedly started a fire in the building under the hut by burning kindling.

The two trapped in the hut noticed smoke coming up through a trap door.

When the Bloomington Fire Department arrived, they found smoke in the building but no active fire, Canada said.

The two said they escaped by taking a loose board and climbing through an upper vent and then climbing back onto the roof.

Collins was arrested on preliminary charges of attempted murder and attempted arson. Riley was arrested on preliminary charges of assisting a criminal. Bray and Lindsey were arrested for trespassing.

Canada said police routinely arrest people for trespassing on the property.

Neighborhood Compliance Officer Mike Arnold said his department is in the process of going through the property and getting it sealed to keep people out of the building.

According to records from the Monroe County Assessor’s office, the building is now owned by the Stuart Moore Oil Corporation of Centerpoint, Ind. However, state records show the company dissolved in 2009. Fields Environmental, Inc., is trying to take control of the property through a tax sale, said its President Rudy Fields.

He said the company is in the business of taking environmentally precarious properties and cleaning them up. He said he probably won’t be able to do anything with the building until it’s complete in November or December.

The building has been abandoned since 2005 when it caught on fire.