Four months after an explosion at a Clinton Township tobacco store that killed a pedestrian, the Oakland County businessman who owned the store is due in court later this month.
Remnants of the explosion at Goo Smoke Shop/Select Distributor on 15 Mile Road and Groesbeck Highway can still be found in a fenced area surrounding the former e-cigarette store.
The burnt-out ruins of the shop still stand, reminding passersby of the deadly explosion every day. According to the local authority, there is no timetable for clean-up work at the site.
“Obviously the wheels of justice are grinding very slowly in this case,” Clinton Township Supervisor Bob Cannon said Sunday.
Noor Noel Kestou, 31, of Commerce Township, was charged in April in 41B District Court in Clinton Township with manslaughter, a felony punishable by 15 years in prison. He was released from prison after posting $500,000 bail.
He is scheduled to appear in a hearing on August 20 to determine whether there is sufficient evidence to commit the crime. Two previous court dates have been postponed.
The March 4 explosion and ensuing fire at the Goo Smoke Shop rocked central Macomb County and sent debris flying as much as two miles away. One of an estimated 1,000 metal canisters at the scene fatally struck a 19-year-old man and another injured a township firefighter.
Clinton Township officials and prosecutors said the explosion and fire were caused by thousands of improperly stored canisters of butane and nitrous oxide.
The township’s fire department has not yet publicly commented on the cause and origin of the fire. Fire Chief John Gallagher recently told The Macomb Daily that the investigation is ongoing and declined to answer further questions.
The area continues to be patrolled by two security guards.
An investigation by the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Firearms, Tobacco and Explosives is ongoing, as are insurance company reviews. Until those are completed, no damaged property can be removed from the site.
Cannon calls the site a “black mark on our community” that he would like to see removed as soon as possible.
“It’s a methodical investigation being conducted by our district attorney and these various agencies that has slowed down a little bit,” Cannon said. “And we’re going to support District Attorney Pete Lucido because we want justice to be done.”
Kestou, the building’s owner, was arrested in April at a New York airport where he had a one-way ticket to Hong Kong, according to the Macomb County District Attorney’s Office.
His defense attorney, James Thomas, could not be reached over the weekend to comment on whether Kestou’s hearing will take place.
Thomas had previously stated that the Goo site would need to undergo remediation, which would have to be approved by the Environmental Protection Agency, and the project is estimated to cost millions.
Lee Salter, a 19-year-old gymnast from Clinton Township, was killed in the explosion. He was standing at a car wash on 15 Mile Road when he was hit by shrapnel from one of the canisters. He died a few hours later in a nearby hospital.
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