Date: Fri 23-Jul-1999

Publication: Bee

Author: ANDYG

Quick Words:

arson-police-Murphy-Bucholz

Full Text:

Youths Charged With Arson

BY ANDREW GOROSKO

Police charged two Sandy Hook youths Wednesday each with two counts of

third-degree arson in connection with fires that were set in May off Jo-Mar

Drive in Sandy Hook and at a sand and gravel mine in Botsford.

One of the two youths had been charged in May with bomb manufacturing and

possession of explosives in connection with the case.

Detective Sergeant Henry Stormer said police served arrest warrants Wednesday

morning against Shane D. Murphy, 18, of 10-A Washington Avenue, and Steven E.

Buchholz, 16, of 104 Waterview Drive.

The two youths surrendered to police at the police station. They were each

placed under $100,000 bond and arraigned that morning on the charges in

Danbury Superior Court. After their arraignments, they posted reduced bonds.

Murphy was released for a July 28 court appearance and Buchholz was released

for an August 6 appearance.

The charges stem from the use of firebombs to set a fire at an unoccupied

small office building at the D'Addario Sand and Stone, Co, Inc, on Buttonshop

Road early on the morning of May 26, and to set a fire in the woods off Jo-Mar

Drive in Sandy Hook late on the night of May 16, Sgt Stormer said.

Five firebombs, commonly known as Molotov cocktails, were thrown at the gravel

mine's scale building on the north side of Buttonshop Road about 2 am. Three

of the five firebombs ignited, setting the small office building ablaze and

causing several thousand dollars in damage. There were no injuries.

Police officer Dominick Salvatore, who was on patrol at the time of the fire,

responded to the call and put out the blaze with a fire extinguisher. The fire

posed an explosion hazard to gasoline pumps near the scale building, but the

pumps did not ignite.

Firefighters responded to the set brush fire late May 16 off Jo-Mar Drive

reported by a motorist passing by on nearby Interstate 84. A firebomb was

thrown against a rock causing the device to explode and burn adjacent

vegetation in a ‹-acre area. The fire was set along the isolated section of

Jo-Mar Drive closest to I-84. There were no injuries.

In both fires, bottles of a flammable liquid were ignited and thrown, causing

fiery explosions, Sgt Stormer said. The sergeant is a deputy fire marshal.

A third arrest warrant in the case has been issued by a judge and police are

seeking to serve it against a male teenager who currently is out of state, Sgt

Stormer said. Police will seek court advice on extradition in the case, he

added.

Of the two youths charged, Sgt Stormer said, "They were both involved to some

extent in the fire on Jo-Mar Drive [and] the firebombing incident at

D'Addario's."

"They were definitely at the scene of D'Addario's, but the case involving

Jo-Mar is a little more complex," he said. He declined to provide details.

"There was a progression involving the defendants," Sgt Stormer said, adding

that the fires which were set grew progressively larger. Last year, some

firebombs were ignited in the Alpine Drive area; later the brush fire was set

along Jo-Mar Drive; then the unoccupied building at D'Addario's was set on

fire.

"They kept moving up in terms of their targets," he said.

Sgt Stormer credited the work of Officer Salvatore in the investigation. "I

think work done by Salvatore prevented countless dollars in property damage

and injuries to either the defendants or innocent victims," Sgt Stormer said.

In the investigation, police interviewed workers at local 24-hour gas stations

to learn who was buying gasoline at odd hours for possible use in firebombs,

the sergeant said.

Previous Charges

Early on the morning of May 29, police charged Mr Buchholz with manufacture of

bombs and illegal possession of explosives after finding two homemade bombs at

his Riverside residence. Those charges are also pending in court.

Mr Buchholz had obtained information concerning bomb manufacturing from the

Internet, according to Sgt Stormer.

"Officer Salvatore's diligence was the reason why we went to the Buchholz home

and found the two explosive devices and made [that] arrest," Sgt Stormer said.

Police believe the Jo-Mar Drive and D'Addario firebombings are related to

firebombing incidents which occurred last fall along Bancroft Road and Philo

Curtis Road.