SALEM, Ore. -- Three teens involved in setting a fire last May at Woodburn High School will have to pay restitution, serve probation and write letters of apology to the community for the fire that caused about $6 million in damage, a judge ordered Monday.
Marion County Circuit Judge Tracy Prall also sentenced the student who lit the fire, Diego Rodriguez-Alvarez, 15, to immediately start serving four days in jail. The other two students, Jose Campuzano-Zepeda, 16, and Miguel Garcia, 15, received suspended jail sentences of eight days provided they fulfill the conditions of their probation. All three already served four days in jail after their arrest.
The three teens each briefly apologized in court for their roles in the fire, which started after Rodriguez-Alvarez ignited hand sanitizer on a desktop in a computer room, copying a YouTube video. The fire quickly spread after the students tried to put it out with paper towels, and it grew to a four-alarm blaze that drew crews from more than a dozen fire departments and took hours to bring under control.
"I'm very sorry and I wish none of this had ever happened," Garcia said.
The exact amount of restitution that the students will have to pay hasn't been set. Attorneys will meet in the next several weeks to discuss final damage estimates from the school and what the students should have to pay.
Rodriguez-Alvarez was sentenced to jail both for his role setting the actual fire as well as for statements he made afterward that appeared to deflect responsibility and blame a teacher, said Marion County Deputy District Attorney Kurt Miller. The student told police, according to a probable cause affidavit, that he didn't know why the teacher didn't see what he was doing and that "she wasn't doing her job."
In court, he said he was sorry for the incident, calling it "a dumb thing to do."
His attorney, John Kolego, said after the hearing that his client's words were taken out of context. "These were kids right before school playing around with hand sanitizer like they saw on videos... These are some teenagers doing dumb things."
The probation terms run for five years, although if the students complete the conditions of the sentences within three years, they can seek to have their felony conviction reduced to a misdemeanor. In addition, they must tour the damaged high school to see the results of the fire, observe a curfew from 4:30 p.m. to 7 a.m., and not possess any lighters, matches, fireworks or other incendiary devices.
The teens originally were charged as adults and faced a mandatory minimum sentence of 7 1/2 years if they had been convicted of first-degree arson, a Measure 11 crime. The seriousness of the crime merited charging them as adults, Miller said. But after additional information and investigation, prosecutors worked out a plea agreement with the three that treats them as juveniles.
The students pleaded guilty last week to one count of attempted arson, a felony, and five counts of reckless endangerment.
In remarks to the teens, who were sentenced separately, the judge said she understood that the teens were only thinking about copying something they saw on the Internet.
"It wasn't an intentional 'let's-burn-down-the-school' event," Prall said. "This was stupid."
But she cautioned them that their stunt grew into something far larger, urging the teens to consider the damage to not just the school, but the students and the Woodburn community as a whole in writing their apologies.
"There are certainly huge ramifications for the community of Woodburn," she said.
Copyright 2012 - The Oregonian, Portland, Ore.
McClatchy-Tribune News Service
