Teens Arrested in
Clearwater Branch Firebombing
Three teenagers have been charged with breaking into the North Greenwood branch of the Clearwater (Fla.) Public Library System July 16 and setting a fire that caused some $150,000 in damage and is expected to keep the facility closed for several months.
The three suspects, aged 16, 17, and 18, are being held on charges of arson, burglary, and manufacture of a firebomb, System Director John Szabo told American Libraries. Szabo said that, contrary to reports published elsewhere, the teens had not previously been expelled from the library for viewing pornography on the Internet, although two of them had been asked to leave for “being rowdy” and other “behavior problems.”
All the print materials have been shipped to Chicago for cleaning— “There was soot covering every item in the building,” said Szabo—and the audiovisual materials are being assessed. Damage to the building is estimated at $38,000, with total costs expected to reach $150,000. The library hopes to reopen the branch in November.
Posted August 7, 2000.
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