Officers with the Wyoming Police Department canvassed the community for weeks in an effort to solve a baffling arson and burglary case that resulted in more than $62,000 in damage to a building and its contents.
Their work, along with that of the Delaware State Fire Marshal’s office, culminated in the arrest of three juveniles late in February.
The three were identified in court documents, provided by Justice of the Peace Court No. 7, as Brad Gustafson, 12, of Camden, Russell E. Jameson III, 12, of Camden, and Jordan Leager, 13, of Rodney Village.
The trio allegedly broke into a building in the Pioneer Concrete compound at 140 Southern Blvd., Wyoming, sometime between Oct. 19 and Nov. 9, according to the warrants of probable cause issued by the court. They were accompanied by a still uncertain number of other juveniles, whose names were redacted from the documents.
“It was a community effort,” Wyoming Chief of Police Chuck Manuszak said of his department’s work to make arrests in the case. “We talked to kids, we talked to residents, asking if anyone had seen anything.”
Police started learning names after some adults said their children either had heard about the break-in or went to school some of those who were involved, Manuszak said.
“In January, we just started putting names to it, to determine who did what,” he said.
According to the documents, fire investigators examined the building and determined there had been at least intentionally set fires. An entrance door showed signs of having been forced open as well. Interviews with a witness on Feb. 10 indicated one of the boys had started the fires with others present.
During interviews with the Wyoming Police department, other witnesses said one of the boys used a crowbar to open a locked door and that two of them sprayed graffiti on the walls and floors, resulting in $22,786 in damage to the building. All three boys allegedly broke out the windows on 13 trucks being stored inside and spray painted the vehicles, causing another $33,943 in damage. A forklift inside the building also sustained $3,000 worth of graffiti damage, according to the documents.
Finally, witnesses told police two of the boys destroyed 1,250 cement blocks, worth $2,835.
Phone calls to Pioneer’s Wilmington office requesting status of the Wyoming facility were not returned. Manuszak said the vandalized building is on the far side of the Pioneer property, near the Camden Little League fields. He said that, plus the fact the facility apparently has not been active lately, might be why the damage was not discovered for some time.
