Inset: Keith Luko (Milwaukee Police Department). Background: The apartment building Luko allegedly set fire to in Milwaukee, Wis. (Google Maps).
A Wisconsin man’s frustration with his neighbors’ marijuana use reportedly drove him to commit arson, setting their shared apartment complex ablaze, according to local law enforcement.
Keith Alan Luko, 44, has been charged with arson of a building, first-degree reckless injury, and six counts of first-degree recklessly endangering safety, as confirmed by the Milwaukee Police Department.
The incident unfolded on the morning of January 17 at an apartment building on West Fardale Avenue, located on Milwaukee’s south side.
Flames erupted shortly after 6 a.m., rapidly spreading through the hallways. Firefighters arrived at approximately 6:30 a.m., extinguishing the fire and rescuing numerous residents from the second floor, according to a criminal complaint reviewed by Milwaukee’s Fox affiliate WITI and ABC affiliate WISN.
Upon entering the building, firefighters encountered intense fire conditions at the front door’s landing area. Investigators later concluded the fire was deliberately set, based on their analysis of smoke patterns, heat damage, and the building’s electrical systems, the complaint indicates.
Surveillance footage became a crucial piece of evidence for authorities. It reportedly captures Luko moving a sleigh-like apparatus filled with personal belongings away from the apartment complex before the fire. He is later seen returning to the building, only to leave quickly as flames emerge behind him, according to police reports.
After that, Luko allegedly fled the scene on foot.
The defendant, eventually found some 5 miles due west near the corner of West Howard Avenue and South 99th Street, allegedly admitted to setting the fire because he “was angry about his neighbors smoking marijuana” and so he “poured gasoline in the hallway” before igniting the accelerant with a lighter, according to the complaint.
In all, five people between the ages of 9 and 94 years old were hospitalized as a result of the fire, authorities said.
The 9-year-old suffered a broken pelvis due to being thrown from her second-story window to avoid the inferno, according to law enforcement. The girl’s parents were also injured, coming away from the incident with cuts, bruises, and scratches, police said.
“The door was extremely hot to the touch,” the child’s mother told authorities. “She could smell smoke coming from the hallway.”
Luko’s own mother was also injured amid the resulting chaos, police said. The woman recalled being roused from sleep when Luko came inside to grab a pack of cigarettes, later heard the fire alarm, went to the living room where she saw smoke, then pushed out a window screen to “let herself down,” according to the complaint. The defendant’s mother ended up with scrapes and a broken ankle.
One resident was hospitalized with severe smoke inhalation while another was treated for lacerations to her legs, police said.
The building was disfigured by black soot, smoke, and charring. All eight units were left uninhabitable and some 25 people were displaced by the fire altogether, according to the Red Cross.
The building itself lacked functional sprinklers because the structure was built prior to sprinklers being made mandatory in all living spaces, according to Milwaukee Fire Chief Aaron Lipski.
