Building owner charged with involuntary manslaughter in Clinton Township blast
MOUNT CLEMENS, Mich. (AP) - A metro Detroit businessman was charged with involuntary manslaughter Thursday in connection with the Clinton Township explosion that sent nitrous oxide canisters propelling through the air, one of which struck and killed a 19-year-old.
Noor Noel Kestou, 31, of Commerce Township, was charged in connection with the March 4 blast that killed Turner Lee Salter about a quarter of a mile away. Kestou’s bond was set at $500,000 cash/surety only.
Earlier this week, officials apprehended Kestou in New York, where he had a plane ticket to leave the country, confirmed Macomb County Prosecutor Peter Lucido.
A probable cause hearing is scheduled for May 7 in Clinton Township District Court.
The explosion occurred in a building housing a distributor for the vaping industry called Goo, which had more than 100,000 vape pens stored on-site. Authorities have said a truckload of butane canisters had arrived at the building within a week of the explosion that sent canisters soaring up to 2 miles, and more than half of that stock was still there when the fire began.
Goo had received a township occupancy permit in September 2022 for the 26,700-square-foot (2,480-square-meter) building as a retail location for a "smoke shop/vape store" that would sell paraphernalia for vape products, Clinton Township’s Building Department has said.
Kestou’s attorney, James Thomas, said he had no comment on the case.
Authorities scheduled a Friday morning news conference to discuss the case.