An Indiana man accused of setting fire to Henderson Island last November has been indicted in two separate criminal cases involving the blaze and alleged boat thefts.
Ironically, it was the case of the boat thefts—which occurred roughly eight months prior to the fire—that helped connect 29-year-old Cole M. Bell of Chandler to the island incident, according to the Henderson County Sheriff’s Office.
In early March, HCSO Detective Matt Brooks presented the two cases to a Henderson County grand jury.
The grand jury subsequently indicted Bell in both.
For the Henderson Island fire, Bell faces felony offenses of willfully setting fire to land not owned or controlled; six counts of first-degree wanton endangerment; two counts of first-degree criminal mischief; and being a second-degree persistent felony offender.
The wanton endangerment charges are related to the first responders who were called to fight the fire, officials said, adding that due to the cold weather and general nature of the incident there were risk factors to the responders.
In the case of the boat thefts, Bell has been indicted on felony charges of theft over $10,000, theft over $10,000 by complicity and being a second-degree persistent felony offender.
Brooks said Bell had no known connection with Henderson until the boats were stolen in March of 2023.
The boats—each valued at more than $10,000—were taken the same day in March from two Spottsville locations about a mile apart, authorities said. Only one of the boats was recovered.
“We’re not sure how they knew where to locate the two boats in Spottsville,” Brooks said, adding that it hasn’t been determined if anyone local was involved.
However, the detective said, “from that investigation, his name came up.”
In an earlier publication about the island blaze, Sheriff Chip Stauffer told the Hendersonian that the truck used to tow away a green john boat in March of 2023 from a Hillside Lane home is the same truck that was spotted at the Second Street boat ramp the night of the fire, which started late Nov. 16. Crews arrived at about 11:25 p.m. that night and the scene was cleared 4:45 a.m. the next morning, the Hendersonian previously reported.
According to a Henderson District Court warrant obtained by the Hendersonian, after the fire, Joshua Greder, a friend of Bell’s, drove the truck to the Hillside Lane address in Spottsville and stole a 2001 green john boat.
A Henderson police officer later spotted both the truck and boat at Green Leaf Market on U.S. 60., where they arrested Greder and took his cellphone, said the warrant. A forensic examination of the cellphone showed a text from Bell to Greder that “appeared to be Google Maps showing an overhead view of the residence where the boat was located,” according to the warrant.
Henderson police documented the same truck used in that theft parked at the downtown boat ramp the night of the fire, Stauffer said.
Brooks, the lead detective in the case, said he was equipped with this information when he initiated the fire investigation.
“I knew of him based on the inquiry into the boat thefts, so I knew I needed to talk to him in connection with the fire,” he said. “We had evidence that Bell’s truck, attached to a boat trailer, but without a boat on it, was parked at the ramp the night of the fire.
“There was an active warrant for him related to the boat thefts, so I was able to get him picked up on that warrant,” Brooks said.
The detective took the opportunity to speak with Bell about the island inferno.
“Bell initially said he’d talk to me about the fire. He told me he didn’t set it, but that he was out there bowfishing (when it occurred). That’s all he would say,” Brooks said. “He stopped talking to me pretty quick.”
“From his arrest on the boat thefts, I was able to get evidence linking him to the island fire,” Brooks said. “They were all intertwined.”
Information on Bell’s next court date was unavailable at press time. Further information about Greder’s case was not immediately available.
In the article published Sunday, it was reported that a Henderson District Court warrant said a truck used by Joshua Greder to steal a john boat “reportedly belongs to (Cole) Bell.” A sheriff’s detective said the truck is not Bell’s. The article has been updated to reflect that change.”
