FLINT – A Flint man is facing arson and other charges related to a fire that occurred last summer at St. Mark Missionary Baptist Church on Dupont Street in Flint.
According to a criminal complaint filed in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan on Friday, the suspect — identified in the complaint as Billy Chambers — was captured on surveillance video intentionally setting the church on fire around 2:15 a.m. on Aug. 30, 2025.
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In the minutes leading up to the fire, ATF Special Agent Gregory Lotoczky says the suspect can be seen making multiple trips back and forth between the area of the church where the fire was started and a field just east of the church.
At 2:11 a.m., the suspect reemerged from the field and approached the church with an object in his right hand, allegedly striking a window with the object before walking back to the field.
A minute later, the man can be seen returning to the church with a red gas can wrapped in a black trash bag and a piece of cloth before emptying the gas can into the window he previously struck. Finally, around 2:16 a.m., the man reportedly returns to the window with an ignition device and sets the church on fire before running back towards the field.
During the course of the investigation it was discovered that Chambers’ cell phone connected to a cell tower approximately .4 miles away from the church around 2:20 a.m., and connected to a tower near his residence — more than two miles away — at 1:32 a.m. and 2:56 a.m., the complaint stated.
Lotoczky and other ATF special agents executed a federal search warrant at Chamber’s home on June 5, 2025, seizing the clothing and shoes Chambers allegedly wore on the day of the arson.
When speaking with investigators following the search warrant, Chambers maintained that he has never been to St. Mark Missionary Baptist Church, which was unable to hold services at the church for approximately two months as a result of the fire, according to the investigation.
Chambers is being charged with intentionally obstructing persons in the free exercise of their religious beliefs by the use of fire; malicious destruction of a building by means of fire or an explosive; and arson in commission of a federal felony offense.