[StBernard] St. Bernard teen confesses to Village Square arson

[Westley Annis]

Can he be tried as an adult even if 16 at the time of the arson?  Might as
well get him off the streets for a few years now.


JY


	
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	St. Bernard teen confesses to Village Square arson
	by The Times-Picayune 
	Friday October 31, 2008, 2:29 PM
	A teen already in the St. Bernard Parish Juvenile Detention Center
has been
	booked with arson in connection with a massive blaze at the Village
Square
	apartments in Chalmette in January. 
	
	The teen, who is now 17 but was 16 at the time of the fire, admitted
	torching the apartments. 
	
	Because he is in juvenile custody, the St. Bernard Parish Sheriff's
Office
	would not identify the teen. 
	
	No one was injured in the
	 Jan. 6 fire, but parish firefighters were
	stretched thin during several intense hours trying to bring it under
	control. The fire created a plume of smoke that could be seen for
miles. 
	
	The fire destroyed around 40 apartments, authorities said. Most of
the
	complexes in Village Square, a large apartment community in central
	Chalmette, have remained abandoned since Hurricane Katrina. 
	
	The teen is already serving a two-year sentence in the juvenile
center after
	being convicted in several auto burglaries.