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Keith Koeppel, 61, was being held Thursday in the Bergen County Jail pending a court appearance. He's charged with arson with the potential to cause death or serious injury and criminal mischief.
Firefighters needed about a half-hour to douse the two-alarm blaze at the single family home on southbound Route 208 late Wednesday. An arson-investigating K-9 unit was then summoned.
An arson-investigating K-9 unit was then summoned.
Koeppel was subsequently taken into custody.
Originally from North Bergen and formerly of Lodi and Ocala, FL, Koeppel recently moved to Ridgefield and took a job as a car salesman, authorities said.
He has an extensive criminal history dating back decades, with arrests in Bergen, Passaic, Middlesex, Morris and Essex counties, as well as in Pennsylvania and Florida, where he most recently lived, records show.
Charges have included aggravated assault, resisting arrest, receiving stolen property, motor vehicle theft and tampering with records, among others.
Koeppel and another man were charged five years ago with clipping the manager of an Applebee’s in Hackensack with their car after skipping out on a bill.
SEE: Two Men Charged In Applebee’s Dine-And-Dash
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