By Jon King / jking@whmi.com


A Hartland Township man has been arraigned on arson charges involving a large barn fire earlier this month.

33-year-old Michael Paul Nester was arraigned Thursday in 53rd District Court in Howell on charges of Third Degree Arson and Malicious Destruction of Property. The charges stem from the suspicious fire and property damage that occurred at a property located off of Clyde Road, east of Hartland Road, in the early morning hours of September 8th. Responding Livingston County Sheriff’s deputies determined that a barn at the location was fully involved and that a vehicle on scene had fresh damage that was not related to the fire. The property owner also reported that a boat on the property had recently been intentionally damaged. Nester was identified as a person of interest for the incident and was taken into custody on a probation violation for a previous larceny conviction.

Nester is being held at the Livingston County Jail on a $100,000 cash surety bond. He is set to be sentenced for the probation violation on October 1st, with a probable cause conference set October 6th on the arson charges. The incident remains under investigation by the Livingston County Sheriff's Office Detective Bureau and the Hartland Area Fire Department.