By: Richard L. Smith
A Newark man has been sentenced to eight years in New Jersey State Prison after pleading guilty to setting fire to a Boonton warehouse and stealing copper materials, according to information released by the Morris County Prosecutor’s Office.
Officials say Davon Fields, 46, was sentenced on July 11 by Judge Ralph E. Amirata following his June 2 guilty plea to charges including aggravated arson, burglary, theft, and criminal mischief stemming from a November 2024 fire at a commercial warehouse on Fulton Street.
According to the Prosecutor’s Office, Boonton Police and Fire Departments responded to the scene around 8:13 p.m. on November 3.
The fire damaged both the main warehouse and a separately leased pharmaceutical supply area, requiring mutual aid from surrounding towns.
The investigation uncovered multiple ignition points and evidence of an accelerant. A gas canister nozzle was found near the scene, and surveillance footage showed two masked individuals entering the building shortly before the fire began.
Authorities later determined that approximately $233,000 in copper materials had been taken from inside.
Fields, who managed the warehouse at the time, was placed at the scene on both November 1 and 3. Investigators also tracked sales of large amounts of copper made by Fields at a local scrapyard just prior to the incident. He was arrested on January 13, 2025.
Under the terms of his sentence, Fields must serve at least four years before becoming eligible for parole.
The Morris County Prosecutor’s Office credited the investigation to joint efforts by Boonton Police, the Morris County Sheriff’s Office, and the Prosecutor’s Office Arson and Environmental Crimes and High Tech Crimes Units.