Jury Clears Guard in Suit Over Auto Dealership Fire

After two hours of deliberation, a Simi Valley jury Thursday cleared a security guard accused in a lawsuit of torching an auto dealership two years ago so he could be a hero.

Jurors decided unanimously that Michael Sinclair, 43, did not start the November 1996 fire that gutted the Mike Wallace Ford dealership in Oxnard.

The early morning blaze caused more than $3 million in damage, including the destruction of several new cars, and sent two firefighters to the hospital. Investigators found evidence of arson, but jurors found the fire was not set by Sinclair.

“Michael Sinclair was sued because he was there; that was the only reason,” said Sinclair’s attorney, John Feliton Jr. “It’s a terrible injustice that he’s had to suffer through this, but the clouds have finally parted and the sun is shining.”

Attorneys representing the dealership argued that a glory-starved Sinclair touched off the blaze while acting on grandiose fantasies of heroism and seeking news media attention for alerting authorities.

The dealership was seeking at least $3.7 million in damages.

In the same suit, attorneys also targeted Sinclair’s former employer, Dial Security of Ventura, alleging that the firm did not conduct a proper investigation into their employee’s involvement in the fire.

Attorneys representing Mike Wallace Ford were unavailable for comment Thursday.

Throughout the monthlong trial, defense attorneys maintained that Sinclair never set the fire and acted dutifully when he contacted authorities.

In the predawn hours of Nov. 13, 1996, flames burst through the dealership’s roof and lighted up the night sky.

Sinclair, patrolling several dealerships along Oxnard Boulevard, said he heard the fire alarm at about 5:15 a.m. and rushed to the scene. He said he called for help when he saw smoke rising from a small fire near desks behind the showroom floor.

City fire crews found the building engulfed in flames. It eventually took dozens of firefighters from five departments about two hours to extinguish the flames.

Two injured firefighters were treated for minor burns at hospitals and released.

Fire investigators determined the fire was arson. But county prosecutors filed no criminal charges against Sinclair.

“We felt from Day One that he was a victim of circumstance,” said attorney Howard Maycon, who represented Dial Security. “He was just in the wrong place at the wrong time and should never have been accused.”

Dial Security has filed a motion asking that the dealership reimburse it for the cost of Sinclair’s defense.

Feliton said his client is “ecstatic” about the verdict, but has made no plans to countersue Mike Wallace Ford. Sinclair, who voluntarily left Dial Security about a year ago, is now working as a guard at another firm.

“He’s been living with this nightmare for two years, and today he woke up,” Feliton said. “At this point I think all he wants to do is sit back, relax and enjoy life.”