09 July 2014 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact: Chief Weitzel tweitzel@riverside.il.us 708.447.2127 - Follow RPD on Twitter @pdriverside

Police Arrest Juvenile for Purposely Damaging Fire Alarm System
in Multi-Unit Building that was Occupied
Bizarre case ends in felony arrest for juvenile
On Wednesday, July 9, 2014 at 1:02 p.m. the Riverside Police Department responded to a call to assist
the Riverside Fire Department on an activated fire alarm at 109 Lincoln Avenue, Riverside. This is a multi-
unit apartment building that encompasses the addresses of 109 Lincoln, 111 Lincoln and 113 Lincoln.
There are three separate building addresses that are connected through the same fire alarm suppression
system.
When the police officers arrived, they met with the fire department who advised that the activation
originated from the basement of 109 Lincoln. When fire and police officials inspected the basement, they
found the basement had been sprayed with a garden hose. There were puddles of water all over the
basement including on the alarm panel board and the fire alarm pull stations. Both the alarm system and
pull stations were soaked which then caused the activation. There were actually two separate activations.
The Riverside Fire and Police Departments first received activation for a fire alarm on the panel that was
located in the basement and then received a second alarm for separate pull stations within the complex at
109 Lincoln.
When the police and fire officials walked outside of the basement, they noticed that there was a male
juvenile standing in the stairway and he was covered in water. When initially questioned, the juvenile said
he was playing with water at a friend's house that was located on 100 bock of Forest Avenue, which is
approximately one block from the scene. When police advised that they would check this information out,
the juvenile stated that he had purposefully soaked the fire alarm panel and pull stations. The juvenile
was taken into custody with his father on the scene and transported to the police station.
After conferring with building maintenance for the complex and the fire department, it was determined that
the damage to the system was in the thousands of dollars and a full estimate for complete damage was
unavailable at the time of the call.
EWS RELEASE
RIVERSIDE POLICE DEPARTMENT
31 Riverside Road, Riverside, IL 60546
When the juvenile was asked why he would purposely damage the system, he only stated that he was
having problems with spiders in his apartment and believed that they originated from the basement so he
was going to soak the entire basement to get rid of spiders.
Charged by Riverside Police with felony criminal damage to property, felony criminal damage to
fire/alarm system and reckless conduct was a 15-year-old male juvenile of Riverside.
Riverside Police Thomas Weitzel stated, The apartment and condo complex was occupied at the time of
this incident and the fire alarm suppression system is still out of service and may take several days to
completely repair. The statement given by the juvenile that he was trying to rid the building of spiders is
completely ridiculous.

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