A former Maricopa County constable was arrested over the weekend after police say he conspired to burn his house down so he could collect an insurance payout.
According to the Tempe Police Department, former Kyrene Justice Court Constable Jonathan Harold Irwin Levenson, who is Jewish, planned to make the blaze look like a hate crime.
Tempe police have been investigating Levenson, 30, for the past four months after detectives became aware that he'd contacted several people asking them to help him burn down his house.
Levenson's plan was as follows: he would be out of town when his house
went up in flames. He wanted the fire to happen on the Jewish holiday of
Yom Kippur, and asked his conspirators to tag his house with
anti-Semitic symbols before burning it down so it would look like a hate
crime.
On May 15, Levenson went so far as to call police claiming someone had
spray painted "Jew" on his car as it was parked in the 1200 block of
West 1st Street in Tempe.
As for evidence of the alleged vandalism, Levenson had none -- he told
police he washed the paint off his car before realizing he should have
taken photos for the police report.
Levenson, on June 30, made a similar report to police, this time
claiming that someone had painted anti-Semitic symbols on his house.
Police suspect the bogus reports were just attempts by Levenson to make a hate-based arson fire at his house look legit.
Levenson got popped on Saturday morning. After his arrest, he told
police he'd conspired with others to burn down his house and collect the insurance
money, however, he claims he decided to not go forward with the plan.
Levenson is currently facing felony charges of conspiracy to commit
arson of an occupied structure and conspiracy to commit fraud schemes
and artifices. Additionally, he's facing a misdemeanor count of false
reporting to law enforcement.
None of Levenson's conspirators have been charged with any crimes, and
Tempe Sergeant Steve Carbajal says no additional arrests are
anticipated.
