A teenage boy set a fire Wednesday afternoon in Woodland Park Nature Preserve that burned five acres of the park and took about 60 firefighters two hours to extinguish, Darien police said.
Police described the incident and the investigation with this account (which includes accusations not proven in court):
All three town fire departments went to the scene of the fire, and Glenbrook Fire Department in Stamford provided mutual aid. No one was injured.
The boy was seen by a neighbor when he set the fire, and the boy was seen running from the park at about the time the fire was reported — 3:18 p.m. The neighbor gave police the boy’s description. From that, at least one witness was able to identify him.
Darien police detectives got statements from witnesses in the area who said they saw a teenage boy who fit the description of the boy seen running out of the park. They said he was running in the area of Christie Hill Road toward Hoyt Street. After identifying the boy, police recovered evidence from his home linking him to the fire.
The boy was issued a juvenile summons charging him with first-degree criminal mischief, a felony. He is to appear in juvenile court in Stamford in May.
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The police news release is published here, on the department’s website.
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