UTICA, NY – A juvenile has been charged for burglary and arson after trying to burn down a home with eight people inside it in Utica.
According to the police, on April 6th, at approximately 5:30 PM officers were dispatched to the 300 block of Kossuth Ave regarding an arson investigation.
“The resident of the home in question witnessed a juvenile male he did not recognize exit from the side of his house and proceed to walk down the block. Within moments he could smell an odor of smoke, and witnessed smoke coming from a hallway on the side of the house where the individual had just left from,” police said. “After ensuring that all of the other occupants, eight in total, were out of the house, the resident chased after the juvenile and detained him until Police arrived.”
After an on scene investigation, officers and Utica Fire personnel determined that the juvenile had set fire to a pile of clothes in the hallway. The department said no structural damage was done to the residence.
An investigator with the Juvenile Aid Unit was tasked with the investigation and at the conclusion of it the 16-year-old male was charged with arson and burglary.