Court Watching: Jeffery Rochon bound over to circuit court on arson, MDOP charges

Jeffery Edwin Rochon, 31, of Sumpter Township who was due for his preliminary exam before 34th District Court Chief Judge Tina Brooks Green on Sept. 16, decided to waive his exam.
Judge Green bound him over to circuit court on Sept. 23 to face charges of 2nd-degree arson and malicious destruction of personal property from $1,000 to $20,000.
Van Buren Township detectives took Rochon into custody at his place of employment in Romulus on Aug. 31 as he was leaving work.
He has since been held in the Wayne County Jail on $500,000 cash bond. Judge Green continued his bond, but signed an order for Pretrial Services to review his case.
Rochon was arrested for the arson fire that occurred on July 28 at 6040 Victoria in Van Buren Township. It is alleged that Rochon burned the residence of the mother of his two children. No one was home at the time of the fire.
The arson charge carries a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison and/or $20,000 or three times the value of the property damaged or destroyed. The MDOP charge is a five-year felony and carries a fine of up to $10,000 or three times the amount of the property damaged or destroyed.
VBT Detective Donovan McCarthy is the officer in charge of the case.
As Rochon was being led back to the court lockup after waiving his exam, Judge Green allowed the six members of his family in court to come up to the court railing to talk to him and hug and kiss him. He told them he was going to ask for Veterans’ Court. Rochon had served as a Marine in Afghanistan.