El Cajon

A 16-year-old boy was arrested Friday in connection with a $200,000 arson fire at an El Cajon elementary school, police said.

The boy had been arrested Thursday on suspicion of attempted burglary of another school, police said, after a neighbor who heard the sound of breaking glass went to investigate and saw a boy attempting to break into Johnson Avenue Elementary. The boy fled on foot, but was detained moments later by police and taken into custody. He was later released.

On Friday, detectives investigating the case discovered that the method of attempted entry into the school was similar to that used at Chase Avenue Elementary the night before, where the arson occurred.

The boy’s fingerprints matched those found at the scene of the fire, police said, adding that a search of the boy’s house turned up a microcassette recorder believed to have been taken from the school. The school’s administration building was set on fire and two portable classrooms were ransacked early Thursday morning.

The boy, whose name was not released because of his age, was taken into custody Friday afternoon on suspicion of four counts of burglary, three counts of second-degree burglary and one count of arson, police said.