GRAND RAPIDS, MI (WKZO AM/FM) — A man charged with setting fire to a Planned Parenthood clinic in Kalamazoo in July has agreed to plead guilty.
According to WOOD TV-8, Joshua Brereton of Paw Paw agreed on Friday, October 7 to plead guilty to a federal court of arson, according to paperwork filed in federal court.
In exchange, federal prosecutors have agreed to drop a second charge of damaging property providing reproductive health services.
The fire was set on Sunday afternoon, July 31 at the Planned Parenthood of Michigan on West Michigan Avenue near South Drake Road.
According to court documents, Brereton went there with materials to start the fire that he had purchased earlier that day at a Walmart in Paw Paw, and got through a 6-foot fence by “tampering with the bolts.” He then used torch fuel and a lighter to set fires near the front entrance and southwest corner of the building and threw a burning Duralog onto the roof.
Firefighters were able to put out the flames in about 10 minutes with the outside of the building sustaining some damage.
Brereton, who was caught in the act on surveillance camera, faces between five and 20 years in a federal prison and is expected to be ordered to pay about $21,000 in restitution to cover repairs to the building and landscaping.
Although Brereton signed the agreement on September 23, a judge may still reject the deal.
