Two Teens Caught on Burglary and Arson Spree
I’m going to go out on a limb and say maybe these two needed a bit more supervision:
“Had they gotten inside the church, I don’t know what would’ve been done,” Rev. Larry Cox, Pastor of Homeland Park Baptist Church said.
He stood inside the church nursery where there was a smashed glass window which had to be boarded. Deputies with the Anderson County Sheriff’s Office said it was all done by two boys, a 13 and 14 years old.
“I do want them to know that I don’t hate them. We can’t hate children and would like for them to get their lives straightened out,” Cox said.
Investigators said the two boys first broke into a shed at the church’s family life center.
“We believe that they broke the glass out and got that diesel fuel that they used to try and set the school on fire with it,” said youth minister, Jason Lingefelt.
He said he got the call Monday morning around 4:00 a.m. and rushed over. He said a five-gallon diesel canister was swiped from the shed.
[...]
Investigators said that’s when the boys walked about a mile to Homeland Park Elementary School and tried to set it on fire.
“I woke up, it was about 3:00 a.m. ., but it was all quiet out here then, ” said Boyce Baughn, who lives next door to the school.
However, investigators said that’s not the case and they found burned pieces of paper and church tithing envelopes at the scene.
“It’s Homeland Park, it’s just wild down here,” Leslie Day, another neighbor said.
Indeed. A 13 and 14-year-old wandering around in the wee hours of the morning should not only have raised eyebrows, but maybe led to a police report when the parents noticed their little darlings were missing. Granted kids like to sneak out, but I’m going to assume that by the time your kids work their way up to burning churches and elementary schools there may have been some signs that you needed to keep a closer eye on them.
Greenville Online is reporting that each of the boys are facing second-degree arson charges and three counts of second-degree burglary.
The Independent Mail is reporting an interesting fact that may mean the kids weren’t as malevolent as the case makes them sound:
The fire alarm inside the storage room was pulled around 2:30 a.m., according to the report.
[...]
“After they tried to start the fire at the school and pulled the alarm, it looks like they ran over to the church,” Tribble said. “Apparently, they broke into the family life center there, where they tried to start another fire. People driving by the church saw them trying to break in to another building on the church property and called 911. That’s when the deputies found the boys and took them into custody.”
Pulling alarms seems like a ploy to ensure the fires don’t get out of control. On the other hand the same report goes on to claim the kids are being looked at for other fires.
Hmmm. Two teens out late at night doing something stupid? Anyone think maybe drugs and alcohol were involved?
One Arrested After Suspicious Truck Fire
A truck belonging to Furniture Market Place in Greenville was damaged in a “suspicious” fire Monday morning, police said.
Firefighters said they arrived at the intersection of Augusta and Potomac roads at about 6:15 a.m. and found a truck ablaze. The truck belonged to Furniture Market Place. They said that the cause of the fire was suspicious.
Police said that a man was arrested shortly after officers arrived at the scene.
The tires were slashed on another truck belonging to the store. The identity of the suspect is not available at this time.
Site of Fountain Inn Double Murder Destroyed by Fire
A fire has gutted the home where investigators say Gentry Chapman shot and killed his wife Amanda Chapman and stepson Ashton Arnold in late November. The home at 5553 Allen Bridge Road in Fountain Inn was fully ablaze when firefighters arrived early Sunday morning.
The fire destroyed the home and is considered “suspicious,” Laurens County Sheriff Ricky Chastain told News Channel 7.
Suspicious Blaze Near Furman Ruled Homicide/Suicide
The fatal fire that claimed the lives of two residents Saturday has been ruled a homicide/suicide by the Greenville County Coroner’s Office. The man and woman had already died of gunshot wounds when the fire consumed the home at 1 Belle Terre Court in Greenville.
One of the deceased has been identified as Lisa Rae Creta, 46, owner of the Summersett subdivision home destroyed in the blaze. The second body has been tentatively identified as her husband of 20 years, 48-year-old Robert Frank Creta Jr.
News Channel 7 reports:
The coroner’s office believes she died around 3 a.m on Saturday. The coroner says she died of multiple gun shot wounds to the head. Her last known employer was the U.S. Justice Department of Federal Bureau of Prisons.
Ellis says the man has been tentatively identified as 48 year old Robert Frank Creta Jr. The coroner’s office estimates the death happened around 5 a.m Saturday. Ellis says he died due to a gun shot wound to the head and the injury was consistent with being self inflicted. Creta’s last known employer was the ATF (Alcohol Tobacco and Firearms).
A 4-year-old pitbull/lab mix was also found at the home near Furman University. The animal had died from multiple gun shot wounds.
Was the Summersett Sub-Division Fire Arson?
Media reports are split on whether a fire that killed an unidentified couple was set intentionally or not. The fire erupted around 6:30 a.m. in a home located on Belle Terre Court near Furman University early Saturday and so far authorities have been coy about the cause, leading many to assume that arson investigators have indeed found evidence of foul play.
WPSA reports on the story this way:
Investigators from the Greenville County Sheriff’s office and the State Law Enforcement Division are at the scene of a house fire that has killed two people in Greenville County.
According to authorities, firefighters from the Duncan Chapel Fire Department responded to a fire around 7 am at a home at 1 Belle Terre Ct., in the Summerset Manor sub-division, near Furman University. Authorities with the Greenville County coroner’s office tell News Channel 7 that two people have died as a result of the fire.
Greenville County Sheriff’s spokesperson Melissia McKinney, says that when officers arrived at the scene, the home was fully engulfed in flames. McKinney says that they have not determined a cause of the fire, but arson investigators from the Sheriff’s Office are at the scene and investigators from the State Law Enforcement Division are assisting in the investigation.
A source close to the investigation tells News Channel 7 that the cause of the fire is “suspicious” in nature.
More importantly they provide this fact that makes foul play seem probable:
Neighbors say the couple had just moved in about three months ago. “When people perish in a fire it can just really hit you. They don’t really seem to have a chance to get out,“ Penny Bostain said about her neighbors. Bostain says the couple walked their dog several times a day.
A couple in their 40s with a dog who they’re used to walking several times a day seem unlikely to have slept through a blaze until it was too late. Dog owners know that a dog is quick to warn owners of what it perceives as danger, and always willing to wake up a couple when they want something. Though they could all simply have been heavy sleepers.
Greenville Online is also reporting that the fire was suspicious and that there’s been an increase in fire deaths state wide, which if course is unlikely to be related, but The Greenville News likes to keep you on your toes by putting trivia into their reports.
WYFF, however, is more cautious, noting that arson investigations are standard procedure for any fire related death. Reporters for Fox Carolina have not updated their original report which states that officials were not calling the fire suspicious.
Update, December 7, 2009: [The Greenville County Coroner's Office has ruled the deaths a homicide/suicide. Please see our latest report for details.]