2008 Woodie Awards
Student arrested, charged with second-degree arson
Dylan Breslin-Barnhart and Erika Schnitzer
Issue date: 9/27/07 Section: News
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Union Sophomore William Jones was arrested Monday, September 24 on charges of second-degree arson.
According to the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA), the school is obligated to maintain the privacy of its students and therefore cannot disclose the names of students involved in criminal acts. The Daily Gazette, however, names Jones as the accused.
Union's Fire Marshal Michael Hilton stated that last Wednesday night, September 19, at about 9:45 p.m., Campus Safety responded to a trash can fire in Potter House.
Though the fire smoldered itself out, the fire alarm in Potter was set off a mere twelve minutes later. This second fire is believed to have been started by Jones, and it is questionable as to whether he started the first fire as well.
According to the Incident Report from Campus Safety, Jones is believed to have set fire to a roll of paper towels, before placing it in an old fire extinguisher cabinet.
The dorm was evacuated, and no one was injured.
This incident is similar to one that took place last March in West College. According to Hilton, there were many similarities between the two cases, encouraging him to look back over his data from last year. Though Jones was a resident of West and lived on the floor where the fire occurred last year, Hilton maintains that there was "no indication that [the student-Jones] was responsible at that time."
However, after running the names of the students who were at Potter at the time of the fire through his database, Jones's name appeared.
"[Jones] had been questioned with other people [last year], so his name appeared, and when we noticed him on the scene [this time], he was the first person we talked to," Hilton stated.
The police, concerned with some of Jones's answers to their questions, decided to bring him to Schenectady Police Headquarters for further questioning. After two hours of interrogation, "there was enough probable cause to warrant an arrest," Hilton stated.
According to the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA), the school is obligated to maintain the privacy of its students and therefore cannot disclose the names of students involved in criminal acts. The Daily Gazette, however, names Jones as the accused.
Union's Fire Marshal Michael Hilton stated that last Wednesday night, September 19, at about 9:45 p.m., Campus Safety responded to a trash can fire in Potter House.
Though the fire smoldered itself out, the fire alarm in Potter was set off a mere twelve minutes later. This second fire is believed to have been started by Jones, and it is questionable as to whether he started the first fire as well.
According to the Incident Report from Campus Safety, Jones is believed to have set fire to a roll of paper towels, before placing it in an old fire extinguisher cabinet.
The dorm was evacuated, and no one was injured.
This incident is similar to one that took place last March in West College. According to Hilton, there were many similarities between the two cases, encouraging him to look back over his data from last year. Though Jones was a resident of West and lived on the floor where the fire occurred last year, Hilton maintains that there was "no indication that [the student-Jones] was responsible at that time."
However, after running the names of the students who were at Potter at the time of the fire through his database, Jones's name appeared.
"[Jones] had been questioned with other people [last year], so his name appeared, and when we noticed him on the scene [this time], he was the first person we talked to," Hilton stated.
The police, concerned with some of Jones's answers to their questions, decided to bring him to Schenectady Police Headquarters for further questioning. After two hours of interrogation, "there was enough probable cause to warrant an arrest," Hilton stated.
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