Teens Charged With Setting Fires At S. Elgin High
UPDATED 03/03/11 7:50 a.m.
SOUTH ELGIN, Ill. (CBS/WBBM) -- Two teenagers have been arrested and charged with setting fires in the restroom at a South Elgin high school.
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On Tuesday, for the third time in a week, South Elgin police and the South Elgin and Countryside Fire Protection District responded to South Elgin High School for reported fires in the restroom, police said.
When emergency crews got to the scene, they determined that garbage can in one of the bathrooms had been set on fire. There was damage to the trash can, smoke damage to the bathroom and clean-up costs associated with the fires, a release from police said.
Fires had also been discovered in the restrooms on Feb. 24 and 28.
Two boys, ages 15 and 16, were arrested and charged with one count each of arson and two counts each of criminal damage to state-supported property, for setting two of the fires, police said. They were being held at the Kane County Youth Home pending a detention hearing.
All of the charges are felonies.
"This kind of stuff cannot be tolerated," said Elgin School District U-46 spokesman John Heiderscheidt. "Making a choice like this to do something of this nature in a school is a very, very serious matter."
Police and School District U-46 are asking anyone with information on the fires to contact a high school staff member or call police at (847) 741-2151.
