Restitution in School Fires Ruled Civil Case

A civil court will determine how much a 17-year-old youth, a 16-year-old girl and their families must pay for the youngsters’ part in fires that caused $1.2 million damage at Escondido schools.

That was the decision Tuesday of Judge Hideo Chino, a Juvenile Court referee, who rejected a recommendation by the county Probation Department that he assess each youngster $7,500 in damages. Instead, Chino ordered that the matter be decided in a civil-court action in which school and insurance authorities take part.

The two youngsters, incarcerated since their arrests in March, were charged with setting fires at Orange Glen High School, Del Dios Middle School and Escondido High School.

Will Receive Therapy

The 17-year-old is a former Escondido High School senior who received a maximum sentence of 10 years, 8 months in custody of the California Youth Authority after pleading guilty to taking part in the arson at all three schools and in vandalism at a Catholic Church where crosses were uprooted and windows broken.

However, the long sentence given the youth is moot because the CYA only has authority over the youngster until the age of 21.

The 16-year-old girl, a student at Valley Continuation High School, pleaded guilty in two of the fires and was sentenced to a maximum of 365 days at the Girls Rehabilitation Facility in Kearny Mesa.

During Tuesday’s hearing, defense attorney William Checkley’s request that she be given speech and language therapy during her sentence was granted. Checkley said he is convinced that she had difficulty in expressing her thoughts and in understanding others.

Two other teen-agers were also involved in the fires and will appear at a restitution hearing today, in which Chino is expected to make the same decision. One of the youths has been sentenced after pleading guilty. The other is expected to be sentenced at a hearing this week.

The final cost of repairs to the four fire-damaged schools could be as much as $1.5 million, according to Jerry Cisinsky, an insurance adjuster for the joint powers authority. The authority provides a self-insurance pool for all school districts in San Diego and Imperial counties, except Coronado.

Costs May Increase

The most damage occurred at Escondido High’s multipurpose building, which housed food preparation facilities for the entire high school district, along with a cafeteria and the theater arts department. Damage was estimated at $800,000 but Cisinsky said costs may run higher before repairs are completed next year.

Orange Glen High School sustained about $250,000 in damage to a classroom wing and Del Dios Middle School about $35,000 damage to portable classrooms. Escondido High had $55,000 in damages from an earlier classroom fire.

The high school district and elementary school district face costs of $10,000 each in the fires. The joint powers authority and a private insurer--Industrial Indemnity-- will share costs up to $1 million. Industrial Indemnity is responsible for costs over $1 million.