Man accused of having sex in elevator with 14-year-old girl, then lighting it on fire
Darion Cole-Hickonbottom
Courtesy of the Washtenaw County Jail
Previous story: Man who reported elevator fire on U-M campus is suspected of arson; teenage girl also held
The 23-year-old man accused of lighting a fire at a University of Michigan parking structure Sunday morning has also been charged with criminal sexual conduct for allegedly having sex with a 14-year-old girl inside the elevator before the blaze was started.
Darion Cole-Hickonbottom, of Ann Arbor, was arraigned in district court Tuesday on charges of arson, third-degree CSC and larceny from a motor vehicle.
The couple is accused of first going through the parking structure on South Forest Avenue looking for vehicles to steal from, U-M police spokeswoman Diane Brown said.
“They’re accused of stealing items of clothing and an Xbox controller,” she said.
Police said Cole-Hickonbottom and the girl then made their way to the parking structure on Church Street, where they allegedly had sex inside the elevator. While still in the elevator, police believe they started a fire on the floor using cardboard and at least one of the items of clothing taken from a vehicle, Brown said.
U-M police received a call from the emergency phone at the Church Street parking structure at 6:22 a.m. After interviewing Cole-Hickonbottom, who made the emergency call, police decided he was the likely suspect in the arson that burned the elevator cab, causing around $3,000 worth of damage.
The Ann Arbor Fire Department was called to extinguish the fire.
The 14-year-old female was quickly located by police near the Church Street parking structure Sunday morning. She is not being named because of her age and because she is the victim of an alleged sex crime. A petition was filed in juvenile court to authorize an arson against the girl, Brown said.
“She’s a runaway from Ann Arbor,” Brown added.
The other two third-degree CSC counts Cole-Hickonbottom faces stem from alleged sexual incidents that took place with the 14-year-old girl between July 20 and 22 at Veterans Memorial Park in Ann Arbor, police said.
Cole-Hickonbottom is currently lodged in the Washtenaw County Jail on a $250,000 cash bond.
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John Counts covers cops and courts for AnnArbor.com. He can be reached at johncounts@annarbor.com or you can follow him on Twitter.
Comments
Juju Ransome
Thu, Jul 26, 2012 : 2:43 p.m.
Sucks that i went to high school with that clown SMFH
whatsupwithMI
Thu, Jul 26, 2012 : 10:50 a.m.
Thanks for mentioning the fact this man lives in AA. Next time, perhaps that will get into the headline.
nickcarraweigh
Wed, Jul 25, 2012 : 2:17 p.m.
A string of brazenly inexplicable crimes like this, whoever may have committed them, unexpectedly offers higher education opportunities. With the right research grant funding behind him, a guy like this could keep the entire abnormal psychology department at UM happily publishing for years to come.
Basic Bob
Wed, Jul 25, 2012 : 2:57 p.m.
You can't make this stuff up. (You'd be fired.)
BOBBY
Wed, Jul 25, 2012 : 1:24 p.m.
i wonder how he tells his version of the story in jail?
Mike
Wed, Jul 25, 2012 : 12:07 p.m.
You have the bond incorrect. It is $250,000 cash only not $25,000
John Counts
Wed, Jul 25, 2012 : 2:26 p.m.
This was pointed out to me this morning by the U-M police and has since been corrected. Thanks.
genericreg
Wed, Jul 25, 2012 : 11:24 a.m.
authorize an arson against the girl Seem harsh punishment.
Robert Granville
Wed, Jul 25, 2012 : 2:31 p.m.
Punishment comes only after conviction. If she started a fire, arson is the appropriate charge.
brimble
Wed, Jul 25, 2012 : 11:22 a.m.
This turns from slightly odd to genuinely sad. Teenage runaways too often end up with abusive "boyfriends" or pimps. This girl, in addition to being a rape victim, has been coerced into assisting her "boyfriend" in committing theft. She was smart to report the crime to the police; she will likely remain in protective custody, and this may provide her a chance to right her path in life.
Billy Bob Schwartz
Wed, Jul 25, 2012 : 3:47 p.m.
A runaway has to eat. Boyfriend + theft = survival.
brimble
Wed, Jul 25, 2012 : 3:21 p.m.
He called the police initially to report the fire. Who told them that they had sex on multiple occasions not clear, but it is less likely that he reported the rapes than that she did. It is, of course, possible, that she led him to commit burglary and arson, but the simple fact of the matter remains that he's a 23 year-old man, and she's a 14 year-old girl.
drut_ferguson
Wed, Jul 25, 2012 : 12:33 p.m.
Wow, you really must have read a different article from the one I did. The one I read said that the guy, not the girl, reported the crime. And it said nothing about her being coerced into burglary. She could have masterminded the alleged crimes, for all we know, given the info in the article.
UtrespassM
Wed, Jul 25, 2012 : 3:01 a.m.
Why did the girl tell the police that she had sex with the man in the elevator?
actionjackson
Wed, Jul 25, 2012 : 9:15 a.m.
Probably because she did.
sidwally
Wed, Jul 25, 2012 : 1:34 a.m.
"looking for vehicles to steal from" haha
Michigan Man
Wed, Jul 25, 2012 : 1:06 a.m.
I thought the smartest people in the nation lived in Ann Arbor and then generally hung out by the U of M campus?
Ignatz
Wed, Jul 25, 2012 : 11:01 a.m.
So much for your thinking ability.
Sam
Wed, Jul 25, 2012 : 12:36 a.m.
First of all my sympathy to the repe victim....however we have a city council and city attorney thats more interesed in disturbing art work than in making sure that police officers are laid off than serving the Ann Arbor citizens..How come we never have adequate funds to have a more effective police force when the city attorney is paid $22,000.00 in overtime and detectiveMonroe made over $50,000.00 in overtime pay.It is an axiom in the work force than once you go over 40 hours per week your productivity declines by fifty percent. So why not eliminate overtime and hire more cops.
Fat Bill
Wed, Jul 25, 2012 : 11:58 a.m.
The support costs....training,equipment, supervision, health, and the like are so high with respect to police officers that it often makes better fiscal sense to pay them overtime rather than add another position.
cornelius McDougenschniefferburgenstein jr. 3 esq.
Wed, Jul 25, 2012 : 11:40 a.m.
your getting a ticket.
Peregrine
Wed, Jul 25, 2012 : 6:08 a.m.
The police caught and are charging the suspects in arson and the suspect in statutory rape. What more do you expect, an officer in each parking structure and in each elevator? As for your axiom, do your really mean to say that if you work 40 hours per week you provide 40 hours of productivity, but if you work 41 hours per week, you provide 20.5 hours of productivity?
halflight
Wed, Jul 25, 2012 : 1:46 a.m.
This happened in a University-owned parking garage, and is not subject to the jurisdiction of the city police department. The funding of the Ann Arbor Police Department has exactly nothing to do with this incident.
Pickforddick
Wed, Jul 25, 2012 : 12:35 a.m.
I am sure he didn't mean it......they should give hm another chance to do good, don't you think?
Lola
Wed, Jul 25, 2012 : 3:39 a.m.
You set off my sarcasm-dar.
ypsicat
Wed, Jul 25, 2012 : 12:34 a.m.
He needs locked up.
Candy
Wed, Jul 25, 2012 : 12:31 a.m.
I was about to criticize the 14-year-old's parents for not supervising their child, but then I noticed that she's a runaway. I don't know what she's running away FROM at home, but I can see that she has run away TO one scary fellow and a possible life of crime and misery. Hope she can turn her life around soon.
eyesofjustice
Wed, Jul 25, 2012 : 12:06 a.m.
Found another boxing match search Ann Arbor Parking Structure fight on youtube.com
eyesofjustice
Wed, Jul 25, 2012 : 12:02 a.m.
If you are having problems viewing the fight just go to youtube.com and search Thursday Night Throwdown Ann Arbor
eyesofjustice
Wed, Jul 25, 2012 : midnight
We as tax payers have a million dollar urinal that wont flush in front City Hall, a multi million dollar bus depot in the process, some of the highest paid City officials in the State(including Stephen Postema the highest paid City Attorney in Michigan), so many parks we don't know what to do with? A brand new underground parking structure, that did we really need? Crimes in these Parking Structures have been documented for years.....would a simple surveillance system in the structures be to much to ask for???? here is a link I found of a wild fight in the Maynard Structure http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-YTFyccYbXw&oref=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.youtube.com%2Fresults%3Fsearch_query%3Dfight%2Bann%2Barbor%2Bparking%2Bstructures%26oq%3Dfight%2Bann%2Barbor%2Bparking%2Bs%26gs_l%3Dyoutube.1.0.33i21.2360.11115.0.13654.25.24.0.1.1.0.86.1688.24.24.0...0.0...1ac.RzhpWEwdxkc City Council should address these problems!
eyesofjustice
Wed, Jul 25, 2012 : 5:10 a.m.
Good Point :)
halflight
Wed, Jul 25, 2012 : 1:44 a.m.
Well, at least the city was successful in shutting down a sleazy "nightclub" wherein drunk women were raped in the booths.
booksandbooze
Tue, Jul 24, 2012 : 11:43 p.m.
A 23-year-old man does not have sex with a 14-year-old girl. A 23-year-old man rapes a 14-year-old girl.
Hmm
Wed, Jul 25, 2012 : 1:02 p.m.
Allegedly
smokeblwr
Tue, Jul 24, 2012 : 11:41 p.m.
Not the brightest bulb in the box....
Billy
Tue, Jul 24, 2012 : 11:31 p.m.
He sounds like an upstanding citizen.
ranger007
Wed, Jul 25, 2012 : 4:06 a.m.
Im sure he didn't mean it..he is a nice young fellow..they have the wrong person.