# Nelson's Speed Shop



## woodsrat (Jan 4, 2005)

I bought a snowmobile from Nelson's right after the fire. I also bought my new Polaris Quad from them. Great prices, good service. I thought this might be of interest to some. Arson costs all of us big $$$$. I am happy that they rebuilt this business and it is better than ever. The competitor's plan backfired.




Nelson's competitor to face charges for Greenville arson
December 2004
By Ryon List - Daily News staff writer *LANSING* -- Police say the owner of a competing business in St. Johns played a role in the arson that led to the destruction of Nelson's Speed Shop more than three years ago.

Det. Sally Wolter of the Michigan State Police Lakeview post said Tom's Cycle owner Thomas Klein of St. Johns is expected to face charges stemming from the Sept. 17, 2001, blaze that destroyed the business just north of Greenville, which suffered an estimated $2.5 million damage.

Wolter, who has worked the case for several years, said she was unsure exactly what charges Klein would face from federal prosecutors. However, she said Klein is scheduled for arraignment by Judge David McKeague of the U.S. District Court's Western District of Michigan Southern Division in Lansing on Monday.

"His charges are coming forth," Wolter said.

She believes Klein is the final player to be charged in the case, which Wolter called "one of the top priorities" for the State Police for years.

"This case has taken us across the state of Michigan," she said. "It's a really big relief for us. This has been a time-consuming case."

"The crime of arson is one of the most difficult types of cases to solve," said Valerie Goddard, a special agent with the Federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF).

Assistant U.S. Attorney Michael A. MacDonald of Grand Rapids, who is prosecuting the case, was unavailable for comment. The department's communications representative also could not be reached for comment.

According to a federal report, Klein paid Richard Crew to set the fire at Nelson's Speed Shop. The Greenville-area business was a competitor with Tom's Cycle, which also sells all-terrain vehicles and snowmobiles. Crew had been a salesman for Tom's Cycle, which is still open for business.

On Sept. 23, a federal grand jury in Grand Rapids indicted Crew, 53, of Durand and Stewart David Barron, 53, who is serving a prison sentence in the Thumb Correctional Facility in Caro, on one count each of arson and one count of conspiracy to commit arson.

According to a copy of the federal indictment, Crew contacted a friend, Richard Robertson, and told him he was willing to pay $10,000 to have Nelson's Speed Shop burned down. Crew allegedly told Robertson about a month before the fire that he wanted Nelson's "burned to the ground as soon as possible."

Robertson allegedly contacted Barron to set fire to the Greenville-area business. After Barron received an initial payment of $1,000, he used a propane tank to burn down the business on Sept. 17, 2001.

The indictment alleges that Crew obtained a total of $10,000 from Klein to pay for the arson at Nelson's Speed Shop.

The indictment says Nelson's was destroyed "to increase the sales and profitability of Tom's Cycle."

Klein was not charged with a crime while the grand jury convened. According to Wolter, he made an arrangement with prosecutors that postponed charges until the end of this year.

Wolter said she expects Klein will face lesser charges than Barron and Crew. They both pleaded guilty earlier this month to arson charges. Arson-conspiracy charges against the two men were dropped.

Both face a maximum penalty of 40 years in prison and a $250,000 fine. They are scheduled to be sentenced by McKeague in March 2005 in U.S. District Court in Lansing.

If charged with conspiracy to commit arson, Klein would face a maximum of five years in prison and a $250,000 fine.

Wolter said Robertson will not be charged with a crime in the case.

"He was an informant for us," she said.

*Nelson's fire history*

After a fire destroyed Nelson's Speed Shop on Sept. 17, 2001, owner Jack Nelson Jr. continued selling snowmobiles, tractors and all-terrain vehicles out of snowmobile trailers just a few days after the blaze consumed most of his business. A little less than a year after the business was destroyed, Nelson opened a new store at the same location.

Nelson and his father first started selling and repairing snowmobiles in his father's basement about 37 years ago. Nelson took over the business in the fall of 1971 and a year later moved it into a warehouse he built just down the road, where it has been located for about 33 years.

Stewart David Barron, one of the two men charged with setting the fire at the business, is serving a 10- to 20-year prison sentence at the Thumb Correctional Facility in Caro.

Barron, 53, began serving the sentence on Dec. 11, 2002, for felony drug and weapons convictions. According to the Michigan Department of Corrections, he committed those crimes on March 1, 2002.

Barron also was imprisoned in the late 1990s for a number of crimes ranging from breaking and entering to inducing a minor to commit a crime.

Staff writer Ryon List can bereached at [email protected]or (616) 754-9303 ext. 3050.


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