Two of the three classmates accused of setting fire to Stratford's Shakespeare Theatre have been accused in another fire.
Police say the teens intentionally set fire to an abandoned building in Southbury, two days after the Stratford incident in January.
Thursday, in a closed juvenile arraignment in Waterbury, a judge set bond for the boys and transferred their cases to the adult system.
According to arresting documents, it was a classmates' mother that called the Connecticut State Police tip line when her son received a suspicious message on Snapchat. That Snapchat implying some of her son’s friends set fire to the Shakespeare Theatre.
This tip led police to their suspects, two of whom they connected to setting fire to the abandoned building owned by the Southbury Training School.
“The family is devastated. This young man is devastated. This is certainly not the direction he wanted to go in,” said lawyer Frank Riccio, about one of the accused.
According to arrest warrants, police say Riccio's client texted another suspect quote "My brother are (sic) work has made the national news..." after the Shakespeare Theatre fire.
Local
Riccio says the 18-year-old is a smart kid who associated himself with a troubled young man. "As the case develops you can see that there is a distinct difference between my client and the codefendant,” said Riccio.
In arrest warrants, police say that codefendant got excited when talking about fire and liked to take things from the fires as souvenirs.
Police say he gave them back the security alarm panel he took from the Shakespeare.
According to the documents, police say the two teens who appeared in a Waterbury courtroom Thursday admitted to setting a string of fires in Stratford, West Haven, and Milford.
"The case is still under investigation and there still may be other ones coming and we'll wait to see when and where those will come from,” said Riccio.
A court clerk tells us the three teens are expected to be arraigned for charges in relation to the Stratford fire on April 23.
