Police in Delaware County are investigating after a teenaged firefighter for the Yeadon Fire Company was arrested on Thursday, April 11, after he, allegedly, set a car on fire.
According to police, Abner Roberts, 18, was arrested after police responded to a burning Land Rover SUV in the rear of a property located along the 400 block of S. 2nd Street in Colwyn Borough at about 5:08 p.m. on April 11.
Officials said that, at that time, an officer investigating the vehicle fire found the vehicle torched and the overhang of an unoccupied building above the vehicle damaged by flames.
Further investigation, court documents note, revealed a plastic trashcan near the vehicle filled with burned Styrofoam and a bottle of isopropyl alcohol.
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At the scene, court documents note, Roberts, a firefighter for the Yeadon Fire Company, told police he had seen the fire and attempted to put it out using a garden hose.
However, in an interview with police, court documents note, Roberts was "extremely nervous and breathing rapidly."
In an interview with investigators, court documents claim, Roberts eventually told police that he intentionally started the fire by setting the rear bench of the vehicle alight by using a lighter and the isopropyl alcohol.
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Roberts has been arrested and charged with arson, reckless burning, criminal trespass and related charges. He is in custody in Delaware County Jail after being unable to post 10% of $75,000 bail.
Court documents did not note an attorney who could speak on Roberts' behalf.
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