A 16-year-old is accused of several crimes in Baltimore County Thursday morning including breaking into a school and setting the home he lived in on fire.
Just after 10:30 a.m. county fire and police were called to the 900 block of Bardswell Road for a house fire. Police said the teen set the home on fire intentionally. No one was hurt but the pain of losing a home was felt hard by homeowner Alan Upshur.
"I've been here for 15 years, said Upshur, and never would expect that something like this would happen."
After responding to the house fire police then received a call that the teen was carrying some type of weapon and chasing a man at random on Bardswell Road, in the direction of Johnnycake Elementary School. This was followed by a call from the elementary school that the teen, who could be seen wearing a mask, walked into the school building. Police said the teen did not have a weapon when he walked into the school and attempted to steal property from inside the building. He left the school without incident after being approached by school officials. As a precautious, the school was placed on lockdown for about 15 minutes. Parents were alerted to the lockdown, no students or residents in the area were injured.
Once outside the school, the teen was followed by school officials and taken into custody by police near Vanderwood Road.
Police have not identified the underage teen but expect him to be charged as their investigation continues.
