Acquaintance vouches for arson suspect
By IMRAN GHORI
The Press-Enterprise
Special Section: Inland Wildfires
San Bernardino County prosecutors have charged a Yucaipa teenager accused of setting about a dozen fires with 10 counts of arson and will go before a judge later this month to determine if he should be tried as an adult, officials said Friday.
But a Corona meteorologist defended the boy, saying he was at the scene of the fires to take photos for his weather Web site.
The 16-year-old boy was arrested last week after he was seen leaving the area of the 347-acre Crafton Fire in Yucaipa on his bicycle. Sheriff's investigators have said they suspect him of setting 12 to 14 fires in the region, including the 860-acre Pendleton Fire in Yucaipa and the 1,159-acre Oak Glen Fire, both of which started in late August.
Sheriff's Lt. Rick Ells said the teen has been charged with 10 counts of arson. Sheriff's investigators wrapped up their investigation this week, he said.
Mary Ashley, supervising deputy district attorney in the office's juvenile division, said a hearing will be held Oct. 15 to "to determine which system would best suit him, the juvenile system or the adult system."
At a press conference last week announcing the arrest, District Attorney Mike Ramos said his office was considering whether the suspect should be charged as an adult, given the seriousness of the allegations.
The teen, whose name has been withheld, remains in San Bernardino County Juvenile Hall.
Kevin Martin, who runs a weather Web site and is an acquaintance of the suspect, said authorities have the wrong guy.
The teenager is a weather reporter for his Web site and was at the fires to take photographs at his request, Martin said. He defended the boy on his Web site Friday.
"He just reports weather and is really obsessed with taking pictures of weather," Martin said.
Martin said he was chatting over the Internet with the boy on the day of the Crafton Fire and informed him of the blaze. The Internet server address showed that he was home at the time, which Martin said is proof the boy was not at the scene of the fire.
That was his last contact with the boy, Martin said. He learned of the arrest Thursday from the boy's mother.
The suspect's mother declined an interview request Friday through Martin.
District attorney and sheriff's officials said they could not comment on the details of the investigation.
Reach Imran Ghori at 951-368-9558 or
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