NEWPORT, N.H. — A 59-year-old Claremont man is being held on preventive detention after his arraignment on charges he set fire to a diner near Opera House Square because of a grudge he had against the cook there.
Leo J. Leblanc pleaded not guilty on Thursday in Sullivan Superior Court in Newport to a charge of arson and attempted arson, Class A felonies, which each carry a maximum 7½- to 15-year sentence if convicted.
Police said Leblanc kicked out the bottom window of Daddypops Tumble Inn Diner in Claremont around 9 p.m. on July 29, poured gasoline on or around the building and caused a fire or explosion.
The fire “went into the basement of the diner before it was put out by the Claremont Fire Department,” and authorities also recovered a red gas can that was burnt at its spout, according to an affidavit from Claremont police Det. Joshua Peavey.
Leblanc’s estranged wife contacted authorities shortly after the diner fire and told them she suspected Leblanc may have set the blaze, the affidavit said.
The woman has been dating the cook/manager of the diner for 2½ years and now lives with him in Claremont, according to the affidavit. She also has worked part-time at the diner.
The woman told police that Leblanc, with whom she has two children, had recently made comments about taking away her boyfriend’s livelihood.
Witnesses on the night of the fire said they had seen a man using a gas can to start the fire and that he may have “possibly lit himself on fire” before fleeing toward Water Street, the affidavit said.
The affidavit also said that when police interviewed Leblanc several days after the fire, his right hand was “visibly” burned and he also had a burn mark on the tip of his nose.
Leblanc said he burned himself from grease while cooking, but a fire investigator said the burns on his hand look “like that of gasoline, not grease,” the affidavit said.
Claremont police had arrested Leblanc six times over the years, according to the affidavit, and he is on probation for felony stalking.
When police first interviewed Leblanc about the diner fire, he said he had nothing to do with it and that it’s a coincidence that his estranged wife worked there, the affidavit said.
The woman told police around Aug. 5 that Leo Leblanc had acknowledged setting the fire and that he “did it because love makes you do crazy things,” the affidavit said.
“It is believed that Leo’s grudge towards (the boyfriend) caused him to light the diner on fire so (the boyfriend) would no longer have an income,” Peavey’s affidavit said. “It is believed that Leo did this with the belief that he could get his family back.”
Judge Elizabeth Leonard ordered Leblanc held on preventive detention based on evidence that his release could endanger his safety or that of the public, according to court records. He is being held at the Sullivan County House of Corrections, with another court date on Oct. 14.
Assistant County Attorney Christine Hilliard said both parties agreed at arraignment for Leblanc to be “preventively detained” for now. A phone message for Leblanc’s public defender, Jay Buckey, was not returned on Monday.
The diner, which was built in 1941 by the Worcester Lunch Car Co., sustained smoke and electrical damage and remains closed.
“We need an electrician, and they are all busy,” Deborah Kirby, who has owned the diner since 1996, said on Monday. “We are going to re-open; I just don’t know how much longer it’s going to take.”
She said there was no structural damage, other than to the wiring, which now must be brought up to code. She estimated total damage at about $30,000 and said she didn’t have insurance and has started a GoFundMe page to help cover the cost of repairs.
Kirby said she had been sick and also lost her youngest daughter, Cassandra Carter, in December, when she was hit and killed as she crossed a four-lane highway in Arkansas.
“I just keep going through these things,” said Kirby.
Kirby said the cook who police say was targeted by Leblanc was a valued employee.
“He’s like family,” Kirby said.
John P. Gregg can be reached at 603-727-3217 or jgregg@vnews.com.