arson News

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Arson That Killed 8 Horses Investigated as Hate Crime Against Gay Owner

Firefighters in rural Ohio are offering a $5,000 reward today for information about who was behind an Easter arson attack that killed eight horses, including a week-old colt, in a blaze being investigated as a hate crime against the animals' gay owner. Brent Whitehouse said he noticed an orange glow coming from the barn...

11-Foot Cross Burned Near Mixed-Race Family's Home

Residents of an affluent central Californian town are outraged by thieves who stole an 11-foot cross from a church and set it afire near the home of a mixed-race family. The wooden cross was apparently stolen between early February and early March from Saint John's Lutheran Church in Arroyo Grande. It was torched early...

Suspect Leaves Cops a Big Tip -- His Fingertip

This is the kind of tip no criminal wants to leave behind for police. Cops in Florida say an arsonist-for-hire accidentally chopped off the tip of his finger while lighting a blaze in a Titusville home, allowing police to track him down without trouble. While responding to a house fire at 11:15 a.m. on Jan. 22,...

After Mosque Arson, Oregon Somalis Fear Retribution

(Nov. 29) -- Muslim leaders in Oregon are pleading for extra police protection after a Somali-American teenager was arrested for allegedly trying to bomb a crowded Christmas-tree-lighting ceremony in downtown Portland and a fire was set at a mosque where he sometimes worshipped. The FBI has opened an arson investigation...

Family: Calif. Arson Suspect Beset by Mental Problems

(Oct. 22) -- Alexander Piggee, the 23-year-old former fast-food clerk accused of torching a high-end shopping mall in Northern California, had recently lost his job and was suffering from depression, friends and family members said. "We're in shock. We just cannot believe that my son did that or what brought it on," Mary...