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Daily Voice on Thursday reported the arrest of Keith Koeppel, a 61-year-old North Bergen native who authorities said currently lives in Ridgefield, on charges of aggravated 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.
“The investigation revealed that a fire had been started on the rear deck, directly below a broken window, and that an accelerant had been used to ignite the fire,” Bergen County Prosecutor Mark Musella said Friday.
Koeppel was subsequently taken into custody on Thursday at the prosecutor’s office in Paramus, Musella said. He remained held Friday in the Bergen County Jail pending court action.
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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