Juvenile faces arson charge for store fire
Richard Hanners Whitefish Pilot | Hagadone News Network | UPDATED 14 years, 8 months AGO
A 15-year-old male from Whitefish has
been arrested and charged with felony arson for the April 3 fire at
the Stumptown Thrift Store on Baker Avenue.
According to Whitefish Police Lt.
Bridger Kelch, Casey Ehrlick admitted being at the scene but denied
setting the fire. Eyewitnesses and video surveillance indicate that
Ehrlick was in the area and had in his possession
“instrumentalities of the crime,” the police said in a press
release.
The fire caused an estimated $125,000
in damages, and a resident in an upstairs apartment “had to run
through the flames barefoot to escape,” the press release
states.
Ehrlick is also a suspect in a trash
can fire that occurred earlier in the evening near Riverside Park.
He’s being held in the Flathead County Juvenile Detention Center on
a $5,000 bond. He was a student at Whitefish High School.
ARTICLES BY RICHARD HANNERS WHITEFISH PILOT
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