Teen girls charged with five counts of arson
By JEFF STITT
jstitt@yourmvi.com
Two 14-year-old females have been charged with arson following a house fire in McKeesport Thursday night, and police say the same juveniles are responsible for three other recent arsons in the city’s Grandview neighborhood.
McKeesport Detective Bureau Capt. Chris Halaszynski did not divulge the names of the two juveniles, but said one is from Grandview and the other is from White Oak.
Halaszynski said the teens admitted to burning the abandoned house at 2407 Easler St. Thursday, and to setting fires at a Cleveland Street house March 9, a Patterson Street house March 27, and a Collins Street house Wednesday.
He said each of the houses had been vacant for several years. No injuries were reported in connection with any of the fires and the Allegheny County Fire Marshal’s Office ruled that the cause of each fire was arson, Halaszynski said.
The suspects, who will be tried in Allegheny County Juvenile Court on five felony counts of arson and five counts of causing or risking a catastrophe, told detectives that they made one failed attempt to set to fire to the Cleveland Street house prior to March 9, according to Halaszynski, who said the suspects’ parents were present for the interviews and were “very cooperative.”
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