Oak Creek Man Faces Arson Charges After Fires At Business, Apartments

FRANKLIN, WI — A man from Oak Creek is facing felony arson charges after being accused of setting fires at a business and an apartment complex in Franklin on March 8 in an act of revenge, according to a criminal complaint.

Nicholas Lauer, 31, of Oak Creek, is facing two felony charges of arson plus a charge of criminal damage, according to court records. Franklin police were first called out to the 5300 block of West Franklin Drive around 3:30 a.m. that day where an officer saw flames coming from a business, police said. The blaze forced employees at Carlisle IT to be evacuated, according to a criminal complaint.

After authorites extinguished the fire at the business, police found several spray cans near where the fire started plus a paper addressed to Lauer, police said. Police reviewed surveillance footage and saw that a white Subaru registered to Lauer arriving nearby where the fire started that day, the complaint said. The footage showed someone getting out of the Subaru and spraypainting in the area then moving things before the fire started, police said.

Police were also called out to an apartment complex in the 6500 block of 35th Street around 5:40 a.m. for a garage fire after the business fire, a complaint said. A witness at the apartments told police that they saw someone spraying something onto an overhang and then trying to light it on fire, a complaint said. When authorites arrived at the apartments they found flames through one of the garage's roofs and smoke damage in other garages, police said.

One witness at the apartment complex told police they saw a white Subaru parked nearby that looked like Lauer's around the time of the fire, police said. The witness also showed police social media videos posted by Lauer apparently in his car talking about how he was "going to get revenge," according to the criminal complaint.

Police later found out from a manager at Carlisle IT that Lauer was a former employee "until he started acting strange in early February 2023, which lead to his employment ending," the criminal complaint said. The manager noted that Lauer was unhappy with his pay and upset when he was informed a raise wasn't an option, police said.

After the fires, police looked through Lauer's social media and found photos showing items found at the scenes of arson and property damage, police said.

Police eventually arrested Lauer after doing an emergency ping through a cell phone carrier, the complaint said. Franklin police used drones to locate Lauer near Groebschmidt Park, and officers found him behind a tree line in the 3900 block of Dory Court, according to the complaint.

When officers confronted and arrested Lauer, he told them in part “I heard there was a fire and was trying to look but got lost," according to the complaint.

On Wednesday, the court ordered Lauer to have no contact with Carlisle IT locations and the area of the apartments that caught fire, records showed.

If convicted, Lauer could face up to 40 years imprisonment and up to $100,000 in fines for each of the arson charges.