Gilroy
– Police arrested an 11-year-old girl Wednesday on suspicion of
arson in connection with the Glen View Elementary School fire that
destroyed a four-classroom wing last month.
The girl, whose name was not released because she is a minor,
lives in the neighborhood of the school, Gilroy police Detective
Mitch Madruga said
By Lori Stuenkel
Gilroy – Police arrested an 11-year-old girl Wednesday on suspicion of arson in connection with the Glen View Elementary School fire that destroyed a four-classroom wing last month.
The girl, whose name was not released because she is a minor, lives in the neighborhood of the school, Gilroy police Detective Mitch Madruga said. She attends middle school but did not attend Glen View for her elementary education, he said.
Three other juveniles may be involved. Madruga said he will be interviewing them in the coming days and may make more arrests. The additional suspects are all juveniles, ranging in age from 6 to 14 years old and all are Gilroy residents, but do not live near Glen View’s 600 W. Eighth St. campus.
Madruga would not say whether the girl’s intent was to ignite the classroom building on the north side of the school or to ignite the janitor’s cart that was the fire’s point of origin.
“I don’t want to give that out at this point because I still have other people to contact,” he said. “I don’t think there was the intention of burning the school down, but there was the intention of starting a fire.”
Third-grade teacher Kathleen Taylor, whose classroom was the first to catch fire and now stands completely destroyed, smiled broadly when she heard of the arrest Thursday.
“That’s great,” Taylor said. “That’s some good police work.”
Investigators actually received the fortunate tip on the day of the fire that pointed to the arrested girl, Madruga said. Immediately following the fire, the girl’s family was at the scene, but the girl was not, he said.
Gilroy Fire Department Division Chief Ed Bozzo and Arson Investigator Steve Morrow conducted interviews and investigated, while Madruga was out of town for two weeks.
They found the girl was involved as a witness in an unrelated child abuse case that took precedence over the arson investigation.
“I was doing a balancing act for a while,” Madruga said. “On one hand, she was a witness in this other case and on the other hand, she was a suspect in the arson.”
The girl was interviewed once prior to her arrest.
“What focused out attention on her was her statement did not stand up,” Madruga said.
Madruga made the arrest Wednesday while the girl was being interviewed. The girl was not taken into custody but was served a “juvenile contact report” that serves as a citation. The report will be filed with the county juvenile probation department, which may later summon the girl to hearings.
She is currently in the custody of her parents. She was not taken to Juvenile Hall in part due to her age and overcrowding at the facility, Madruga said. Her possible sentence, if convicted, was not available by press time.
A second interview was conducted following her arrest Wednesday.
“I wouldn’t call it cooperative,” Madruga said of her participation in the investigation. “It’s semi-cooperative. She has given a statement, but I’ve been able to take apart her alibi.”
The fire that erupted about 1:15pm March 29 burst through the classroom nearest the janitor’s cart where investigators suspect it ignited. Two adjacent classrooms were heavily damaged, and another was damaged by smoke, bringing estimates to between $1 and $2 million damage. The four-classroom wing is now boarded up and must be re-built.
Investigators do not consider the girl a suspect in another fire in a Rod Kelley Elementary trash bin that same afternoon.
It was unclear Thursday whether the tipster would receive the $2,000 reward being offered for information leading to an arrest. Gilroy Unified School District contributed $500, the police and fire departments each contributed $250 and the Northern California Regional Liability Excess Fund contributed $1,000.
During an assembly at Glen View Thursday, Taylor said she and her students are doing well and making their new classroom across campus a home, thanks to support from the school, district and greater community.
“It continues. People are still coming and giving,” she said, her eyes watering. “It’s just a good place to be.”
Glen View Principal Marilyn Ayala also expressed her gratitude to the school district, community and classroom teachers from Gilroy, San Jose, Morgan Hill and Hollister who have all reached out to offer the school a helping hand. Word that the suspect is an 11-year-old girl was “disappointing,” she said, but sent an important message to students.
“I’m pleased (investigators) caught the one that’s responsible because I think we need to send a clear message that there will be consequences for this kind of behavior,” she said.
