NORTH TONAWANDA — A 39-year-old North Tonawanda man was charged Thursday evening with the arson of a North Tonawanda firefighter’s home.
N.T. Police say Matthew Jurado was charged with second-degree arson after admitting to setting fire to the home of Kenneth Walker — his neighbor who lives across the street from Walker. Jurado was reportedly upset by his removal from a volunteer fire company and Gratwick Hose’s refusal to bring him in as a volunteer. Walker is a volunteer at Gratwick Hose.
Jurado said he did not write the racist letter that Walker received in his mailbox on Monday night but told police he knows who did. The letter used a racial epithet and threatened that if Walker did not quit the fire department by week’s end, he would regret it.
Jurado is being held without bail pending arraignment this morning in North Tonawanda Court.
A GoFundMe account set up for Walker has raised more than $80,000 as of early this morning.
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