Buffalo business recovering from suspected arson

BUFFALO, Mo. — Aaron Boland isn’t just a police officer in Buffalo, Missouri.

He also sells cars on the side.

However, he didn’t think those two efforts would mix when his office became a crime scene.

“It was about 8:00 in the morning when I ran out the door and came over here to see the cops and just people everywhere and lights and whatnot and discovered the back of room of my office had been caught on fire,” Boland said.

Buffalo PD is investigating the fire as an arson case.

“Usually, whenever it happens in the city, it’s almost always juveniles or people who are just generally younger,” Boland said.

Even though he’s on the force, Boland will not be part of that investigation.

The damage in the office includes burned flooring, burnt tax documents, smashed monitors, and even framed documents that have now been smashed, not to mention a busted door.

The most vital damage to Boland’s business is the fact that he’s missing some of the titles to the vehicle he’s working to sell.

“Honestly, the titles are what irritates me the most. I would be thrilled if I got nothing back but the titles, to be honest with you, because that those are the most valuable pieces of any of this to me. You know, without the title to a car, I can’t sell it,” Boland said. “The only person who can get that title back is the last registered owner, which in this case would be me, although I’m a dealer, so I don’t register them in my name.So now I have to go backtrack. Who did I buy this car from? Is that person willing to go to the DMV for me, which nobody wants to go to the DMV for free, so I’m already having to pay one guy I got a hold of and I think he’s agreed to do it. I’m going to offer him 100 bucks that run up to the DMV and go file for a loss title.”

He’s also missing the title to a boat he’s trying to sell as well, but he’s less optimistic about getting that situation straightened out.

“I’m pretty sure the guy who owned it has passed away. I don’t know if I’ll ever get the title of that back. It does definitely set me back some,” Boland said.

Boland says he’s pretty confident that the culprit or culprits are likely younger, troublemakers in the area.

“From everything that I’ve seen so far and based off of just experience in general, I believe it’s going to be to younger individuals,” Boland said. “I don’t have the identification on them down yet. There are multiple cases involved in this. It’s not just this one alone. The guy across the street had a window busted in as well. Another business owner down the street, I’m not sure what the business is, but they had broken into. It could all be three different, three different occasions. It’s just very coincidental.”

He’s had some help from the area, including donated machines to help get the smoke smell out of his workspace.

“I had people from my church group come up and help me, help me clean. They’re the ones who let me borrow that ozone machine to get the smoke smell out of here. I’ve had multiple people come by and just say, ‘Hey, you know, we’re sorry to hear about that. Is there anything you need? You know, let us know,’ Boland said.

Boland doesn’t believe he was targeted with this, but again believes it’s dumb choices by younger people getting into trouble.

“I am mad about the situation. I know kids make dumb choices. Do I think that it needs to go unpunished? No. Would I like there to be some resolution? Yeah. Do I want these kids have felonies on their records for the rest of their lives from a stupid decision they made when they were teens? No, I don’t. I don’t want this to destroy their life. Would I like my monitors and my titles returned? Yes, I would, but I don’t want their lives to be ruined over it,” Boland said.

In a social media post about the investigation, the Buffalo Police Department says if you have any information, you’re encouraged to contact them as soon as possible.

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