CLINTON TOWNSHIP, MI – The proprietor of a Detroit suburb business, which recently suffered a devastating fire and explosion resulting in a fatality, was apprehended at a New York airport while attempting to leave the country for Hong Kong, according to officials on Friday.
Noor Noel Kestou, 31, was detained on Saturday by U.S. Customs and New York Port Authority officers at John F. Kennedy International Airport. He was then extradited back to Michigan on Wednesday.
Kestou, a resident of Commerce Township, faced his arraignment on Thursday, where he was charged with involuntary manslaughter.
The incident in question, a fire and subsequent explosion, happened on March 4 in a Clinton Township building that served as a distribution center for a vaping industry company named Goo. The site reportedly held over 100,000 vape pens. It has been disclosed that a shipment of butane canisters had been delivered to the facility a week before the explosion, which sent canisters flying as far as two miles. Over half of the butane stock was still present when the fire ignited.
The victim, 19-year-old Turner Lee Salter, was approximately a quarter of a mile away when he was hit by a nitrous oxide canister launched by the explosion. Salter subsequently succumbed to his injuries.
On April 20, officials were alerted that Kestou was attempting to leave for Hong Kong. Macomb County Prosecutor Peter Lucido expressed uncertainty about Kestou’s intentions, questioning whether he planned to evade authorities while leaving his family behind.
Lucido also noted that Kestou was a suspect from the onset due to his ownership of the business. In September 2022, Goo had been granted a township occupancy permit for the 26,700-square-foot building to operate as a retail location for a “smoke shop/vape store.”
After posting a $500,000 bond, Kestou was released. His passport is currently in the possession of authorities, and he is required to wear a GPS tether as a condition of his bond. A probable cause hearing is set for May 7 in the Clinton Township District Court.
James Thomas, Kestou’s attorney, declined to comment on the case.