THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, June 6, 1996 TAG: 9606060354
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY MIKE MATHER, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: VIRGINIA BEACH LENGTH: 61 lines
Authorities have charged four Princess Anne High School students with setting two fires that destroyed three portable classrooms at Windsor Oaks Elementary last month.
Investigators said Wednesday the students admitted their involvement when authorities confronted them at their homes late Tuesday and early Wednesday. All of the accused students, ranging in age from 15 to 17, live within a mile of the elementary school.
The suspects were also charged with breaking into the portable classrooms before the fires were set, and three have been charged with grand larceny for allegedly stealing items from those buildings.
Authorities said they have no information to link the students with two other arsons at city schools this year, including the blaze that caused more than $7 million damage to the high school the suspects attend, Princess Anne.
Fire Capt. Stanley Foster Jr. said the students did not offer a motive for the crimes, except mischief. He said they expressed remorse only at being caught.
Foster said that if the boys were involved in the crimes, their parents did not know about it.
The May 12 fire destroyed two portable classrooms at the elementary school and a blaze two weeks later burned the third.
The fires caused about $150,000 damage and forced several teachers to relocate their classes.
According to interviews with law-enforcement authorities and court documents filed Wednesday, this is how investigators nabbed the students:
Just before the May 25 fire, a witness living near the elementary school saw a gray pickup with a Confederate flag and a vanity license plate on the school property. Another witness saw at least two people near the portable classrooms just before the fire broke out.
Investigators checked the license plate and found the truck was registered to the mother of one of the boys later charged.
On Monday, a witness told investigators that that boy and a friend were responsible for the fires. The witness also told police the boys took souvenirs from the classrooms. The witness was one of several who went to police or school officials offering information, Foster said. He credited other students and community residents with providing the information needed to break the case.
Late Wednesday, investigators went to the boys' homes with search warrants to look for the souvenirs.
They found many of the items taken from the classrooms. The boys' parents allowed the searches, investigators said.
The four boys were charged with a total of 18 felonies. Police and fire investigators would not release any of the boys' names because they are juveniles.
The boys were released to the custody of their parents. ILLUSTRATION: Color FILE photo
The May 25 fire, left, destroyed the school's last portable
classroom. The fire on May 12 destroyed two classrooms.
KEYWORDS: FIRE ARSON VIRGINIA BEACH SCHOOLS WINDSOR OAKS
ELEMENTARY ARREST JUVENILE by CNB