Man who owns home that exploded in Dilworth is arrested in Chicago, records say
The owner of a Dilworth home that exploded and caught fire on May 2 was arrested Friday in Chicago, the sheriff’s office in Cook County, Illinois, confirmed to The Charlotte Observer on Tuesday.
Michael E. Barnette, 41, was charged with being a fugitive from justice out of North Carolina, according to Cook County, Illinois, court records. A Cook County Sheriff’s Office spokesperson also confirmed the man arrested in Chicago was the same as the owner of 1645 Lombardy Circle in Charlotte.
Later Tuesday afternoon, the Charlotte Fire Department made a social media post saying he was a suspect in the explosion.
The origin and cause of the explosion remains under investigation, the department said.
Barnette was arrested on May 9 at 9:20 a.m. in the 200 block of South Canal Street, the Chicago Police Department said.
Barnette purchased the home in 2012, according to Mecklenburg County property records.
No one was in the home at the time of the explosion, the Charlotte Fire Department previously said, and no one was killed. A neighbor and a firefighter had minor injuries. Firefighters controlled the flames in a little over an hour.
The fire caused $445,000 in property damage and content loss and damaged two homes on either side of the lot.
Bricks, burned wood, and charred remains sit taped off at the site. People living in the neighborhood said they have reached out to the city for answers and help cleaning it up, but haven’t gotten through to anyone.
Curt Sowers and his husband, who lived in one of the homes next door to the explosion, were told their home was condemned after it was knocked off of its foundation by the blast. Sowers’s husband was cut after glass from a window shattered by the explosion blew across the room and hit him.
Court records show Barnette was in custody in Chicago as of Monday and had no bond. The Charlotte Fire Department said Barnette is in the process of being extradited to Charlotte.
This is a developing story and will be updated.
This story was originally published May 13, 2025 at 12:36 PM.
