HALLOCK, MN (trfnews.i234.me) Fifty year old Tamara Devore, the owner of the Caribou Grill in Hallock, Minnesota has been charged with arson and insurance fraud, following a fire. Devore made her initial court appearance Monday. Bail was set at $50,000 cash without conditions or a $20,000 bond with conditions. She is currently out of jail
we have breaking news out of Kitson County Minnesota as we first told you Friday morning a Thursday night fire and smoke heavily damaged the caribou grill in Halleck now authorities have charged 50 year old Tamara Devore of Kennedy Minnesota with felonies a first-degree arson and insurance fraud the complaint states of fire occurred at the caribou Grill in the city of Halleck Minnesota at 10:24 p.m. on February 21st the business was open at the time and patrons narrowly escaped in front of a heavy a heavy and toxic smoke front the fire started in a storage room directly inside the West door to the building there were no accidental ignition sources in the area of origin and no reason that anyone would have had an appliance our device of any sort that would have produced heat or flame in this area the restaurant had a video surveillance system this was recovered and footage retrieved by the ISP responsible for the system the footage shows that offended entering and leaving the storage room with nothing in her hands the defendant stops and looks into the room at one point but does not enter only two other people enter and leave the storage room in the time prior to the fire and both came out carrying in a case of alcohol retrieved from the beer cooler the last employee working in the kitchen other than the defendant leaves for the night at 9:50 p.m. and does not return at 22:00 2144 on the footage the owner leaves the storage room for the last time about two minutes later heavy smoke obscures the camera the first 9-1-1 call reaches the Kitson County dispatch from one of the bar occupants for this rapid expansion to occur the fire would have to have been burning while the defendant was in the storage room no one else was in the vicinity of that room for over 30 minutes prior to the fire other than the defendant Tamara Devore during an interview with law enforcement the defendant stated that after reporting the fire she contacted her insurance agent for the purpose of filing an insurance claim with the insurer of the damaged building each count of arson and insurance fraud carries a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison I’m Neil Berg reporting for I news TV
Caribou Grill Owner in Hallock Faces Charges of Arson and Insurance Fraud
Glad no one was hurt in this selfish act by her
Dumb.Dumb.Dumb
I would like to offer the perspective of a current member of the community and someone who actually supports the local businesses. First of all, the Caribou has been listed for sale for some time, and has changed hands multiple times. If it was such a “goldmine” somebody would have already bought it, or it would still be in the hands of the original owners. There is no such thing as a “goldmine” in a small town. It takes many years just to break even, and only if you get lucky. And that’s after many long hours and unimaginable stress. Secondly, the “surveillance” camera claimed to catch her in the act was the camera she installed herself to catch people stealing beer. Do you really think a person would incriminate themself that easily???
Third, the Caribou was hosting pool league that night with 2 local firefighters present. Would you try to burn a building for insurance with 2 firefighters inside???
Fourth, the second thing you do in any auto, home, or business accident is to notify your insurance company. In fact, most companies require it. It’s very hard to assume insurance fraud based on that action alone.
Finally, the ATF hasn’t even arrived yet to do their investigation, which is standard practice with business fires. Just because one or two local officials rush to judgment doesn’t mean we all have to follow them off the cliff like a bunch of lemmings. We don’t even know if it IS arson yet. Let the pros do their jobs and gather all the facts.