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UPDATE: Court hearing for Java Monkey arson suspect postponed

Rickey Thomas worked as a barista at Java Monkey, but he was fired three days before the fire, the owner said.
Rickey Thomas worked as a barista at Java Monkey, but he was fired three days before the fire, the owner said.
J.D. Capelouto
By J.D. Capelouto

The man accused of setting a popular Decatur coffee shop ablaze appeared in court Thursday, but his hearing did not happen as planned.

The defense attorney for Rickey Hodges Thomas did not show up at the scheduled 1 p.m. preliminary hearing in the DeKalb County Magistrate Court. Judge Albert R. Sacks postponed the hearing to May 2, though that date could change.

Thomas, 28, was arrested April 1 after being wanted on an arson charge for about five months. Authorities said Thomas set fire to Java Monkey in downtown Decatur on Nov. 11, days after being fired from the business. He remains held at the DeKalb County jail.

Java Monkey, which was partly demolished, is in the planning stage and has not yet started repairs and renovations.

Thomas was arrested in East Point earlier this month after a woman he was living with called police and said Thomas had threatened her, East Point police Deputy Chief Russell Popham said. Thomas had also told the woman he was wanted for arson, Popham said. He was located walking near the home, and officers then found there was a warrant out for his arrest.

At Noodle, which shares a wall with Java Monkey, a worker does repairs on the restaurant’s outside patio last week. (Photo: J.D. CAPELOUTO/JDCAPELOUTO@AJC.COM)
At Noodle, which shares a wall with Java Monkey, a worker does repairs on the restaurant’s outside patio last week. (Photo: J.D. CAPELOUTO/JDCAPELOUTO@AJC.COM)

According to the warrant, Thomas was seen on surveillance video at Java Monkey holding a stick that looked like a broom handle, which may have been used to break a window at the back of the coffee shop late on Nov. 11.

Thomas had seen legal trouble before the fire. After pleading guilty to a second-degree burglary charge in 2016, he entered the Felony Mental Health Court Program, an alternative sentencing program aimed at defendants struggling with mental health issues, court records show. However, he was removed from the program last year, but granted bond, after violating the program’s rules.