Glendale High student faces arson charges
Police have presented prosecutors with arson charges against a 14-year-old Glendale High School student who allegedly set posters on fire with a lighter on campus, officials said.
The boy, whose name wasn’t released because he is a minor, was arrested on suspicion of arson at 4:19 p.m. Thursday on campus and was released to his father after the incident, Glendale police spokeswoman Tahnee Lightfoot said on Monday.
Richard Sheehan, superintendent of the Glendale Unified School District, said he couldn’t comment on whether the student was disciplined because he is a minor.
Still, he said the school’s staff “responded quickly and appropriately.” Sheehan added that no one was injured in the incident, which he said “was handled very well.”
School staff became aware of the blaze after a fire alarm went off about 3 p.m. in the basement of the campus in the 1400 block of East Broadway, Lightfoot said.
The basement is in the campus’ main building, where students were attending classes, she said.
Inside the basement, staff reportedly saw posters on a wall on fire and extinguished the flames by using a piece of clothing.
The subject matter of the posters was not immediately known, Lightfoot said.
School staff later found the student and detained him until police arrived.
Authorities found the lighter when they searched the student, she said.
He reportedly declined to talk to police about the incident.
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