Newark Man Sentenced For November 2024, Morris County Arson

Friday, July 18, 2025, 7:15 A.M. ET. 2 Minute Read, By Art Fletcher: Englebrook Independent News,

BOONTON, NJ.- Last Friday, a 46-year-old Newark, New Jersey, man learned he would be spending nearly a decade in New Jersey State Prison, after being sentenced for setting a fire at a Boonton, New Jersey, warehouse in November 2024, to conceal his theft of over $200,000 in copper products.

     According to Morris County Prosecutor Robert J. Carroll, on June 2, 2025, Davon Fields, 46, of Newark, New Jersey, appeared in Morris County Superior Court and pleaded guilty before Superior Court Judge Ralph E. Amirata to second-degree Aggravated Arson; third-degree Burglary; third-degree Theft; and third-degree Criminal Mischief.

     On Friday, July 11, 2025, Judge Amirata sentenced Fields in accordance with the terms of his negotiated plea agreement to 8 years in New Jersey State Prison, with a four-year parole ineligibility. 

Sentence Stems From An Arson Investigation

     The guilty plea and Friday’s sentence stem from an investigation that began on November 3, 2024, when, shortly after 8:00 p.m., members of the Boonton Police Department and the Fire Department responded to a commercial warehouse fire located at 95 Fulton Street in the Town of Boonton. Upon arrival, Police Officers and Firefighters observed heavy smoke and fire coming from a warehouse area, including a secured area leased by a pharmaceutical supply company.

     The Boonton Fire Department successfully extinguished the two-alarm fire with the assistance of mutual aid fire companies from surrounding communities.

     During the ensuing investigation, fire officials identified multiple points of origin, a heavy odor of petroleum, and other signs that the fire had been intentionally set. Investigators found a gasoline-type canister nozzle and recovered video surveillance revealing two masked individuals entering the warehouse shortly before the fire. During the investigation, Detectives and Investigators learned that approximately $233,000 worth of copper materials had gone missing from the interiors of equipment belonging to another company that utilized the warehouse.

During The Investigation, Video Surveillance Ties Fields To The Fire

     Further investigation placed the warehouse manager, Fields, in the area of the warehouse late at night on November 1, 2024, and again on November 3, 2024, at the time of the fire. The investigation determined Fields visited a scrapyard on November 1 and November 2, 2024, and sold significant quantities of copper on both occasions.

     Following the investigation and based on the evidence collected, Fields was taken into custody on January 13, 2025, and formally charged.