Navy dependent, 12, admits he set fires at Pearl City homes

A 12-year-old boy confessed to setting two fires that damaged homes in a Navy housing complex on the Pearl City Peninsula over the weekend, police said.

The fires caused $94,000 in damage to two homes, and smoke, heat and water damage affected three other units.

Two Navy families — 11 people — had to be relocated to new quarters, the Navy said. Other affected families are being offered new housing assignments, the Navy said.

Police continued to investigate a brush fire that was set at 3:17 p.m. Sunday in an open field next to an abandoned warehouse on Victor Wharf Access Road near the scene of the earlier fires.

The boy, a Navy dependent, left a spray-painted message near the fire scenes suggesting the fires were deliberately set and would continue, police said.

Police said the juvenile turned himself in Thursday and confessed to starting two home fires and attempting to ignite a third.

Officers arrested the boy for investigation of two counts of first-degree arson, one count of fourth-degree arson, two counts of first-degree burglary and one count of fourth-degree theft.

Police and Naval Criminal Investigative Services turned over the case to the city prosecutor’s office for further action. The juvenile was released. Unless the suspect is tried as an adult, the case will be handled by Family Court, where the proceedings are held in private.

The Navy said a June meeting between representatives of Forest City, which manages the complex, and peninsula residents "revealed nothing out of the ordinary" concerning issues such as graffiti, delinquency and vagrancy.

Police said the boy stole items to start the fires from garages in the area.

Four police officers on a special assignment following the suspicious fires caught the youth on Ashley Avenue at about 3 a.m. Monday sneaking between two housing units.

When police tried to stop him to ask for identification, the boy fled. He was found hiding in a garage, taken into custody, questioned on Tuesday and released to his parents.

The first fire occurred at 5:04 a.m. July 14 when a vehicle parked in a carport on the 5000 block of Ashley Avenue was set on fire. The fire damaged the vehicle, the carport and attached home. Damage was estimated at $4,000.

The second fire took place at 3:26 a.m. Sunday when a vehicle parked in a four-unit housing complex, a block away at 1127 Lowella Ave., was set on fire. The fire burned the vehicle and damaged the home.

Three adjoining units sustained smoke, heat and water damage estimated at $90,000.

Police said the suspect also tried to start a fire at a third Pearl City Navy home at 8:53 a.m. Sunday on Lowella Avenue, where gas cans and burned wooden torches were found lying on the driveway of a home. Police said the suspect poured gasoline around a vehicle and attempted to light it but failed.