Teen Charged With Arson in Pennsylvania Farm Blazes
Source Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
A 17-year-old girl was charged with arson Wednesday after state police said she set three fires that destroyed much of a Butler County farm earlier this month.
State police Cpl. Jeffrey Crede and Trooper Brian Crouch wrote in a report that interviews with two parents who lived at the Snyder Farm on Shuler Road in Clearfield last week led them to suspect that the girl might be responsible for the fires.
The girl's name has not been released. Police wrote that she was taken to a psychiatric treatment facility in Pittsburgh, where she "admitted to facility staff that she was responsible."
The first blaze, on April 9, destroyed a barn and several outbuildings and killed 70 pigs. The second, on the next day, destroyed the family's home on the property, and the third, on April 19, damaged another building on the land.
In addition to three counts of arson, the girl faces juvenile charges of risking a catastrophe, criminal mischief, agricultural vandalism and recklessly endangering another person. Police said the girl remained in the treatment facility Wednesday night.
Copyright 2012 - Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
McClatchy-Tribune News Service
