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Arrest made in alleged attempt to start residential fire on East Avenue

By Howard B. Owens
Brian Sprague

An arrest has been made in an attempted arson reported yesterday morning on East Avenue in the City of Batavia.

The suspect broke three windows on the first floor of a residence, poured gasoline around the outside of the house, but then was unable to get the fuel to ignite, according to police.

Brian J. Sprague, 24, of Adams Street, Batavia, is charged with attempted arson 2nd and criminal mischief 3rd.

Three people were at home and in bed when they heard the windows being broken at 6 a.m., but didn't get up to investigate until nearly three hours later.

After the alleged attempt to start a fire failed, Sprague left the area, but was located later in the day.

He was arrested, arraigned and jailed without bail.

The case was investigated by detectives Kevin Czora and Todd Crossett along with City firefighters.

Peggy Dominiak

It seems pretty odd, that no one got up to investigate this matter until 3 hours later.....Hmmmm, if someone was breaking my windows, I would definitely get up, grab a baseball bat & go to see what was going on. I don't know him personally but I do I know his sister & have met his parents. He comes from a very good family.

Sep 25, 2014, 5:25pm Permalink
Howard B. Owens

"It seems pretty odd, that no one got up to investigate this matter until 3 hours later ..."

To quote Churchill: "It is a riddle, wrapped in a mystery, inside an enigma"

Sep 25, 2014, 6:49pm Permalink
Gary Spencer

Alvin,
I'm sure if he was smart enough to know how to light a match, if the fire were actually set, attempted murder would be fitting, but alas, the boy ain't to bright (thank goodness)

Sep 25, 2014, 9:36pm Permalink
tom hunt

I would like to know the story behind the story. Burning down the parent's house is not the way to garner the attention and approval of an off spring.

Sep 26, 2014, 3:26am Permalink
Raymond Richardson

Alvin,

In order for him to be charged with attempted murder, there has to be intent to try and cause the death of a person. Had he been able to ignite the gasoline, and none of the occupants of the home were killed, he could be charged with attempted murder.

Attempted arson 2nd is a class B felony, and the criminal mischief 3rd is a class E felony.

Combined he's facing up to 7 years in prison.

Sep 26, 2014, 8:32am Permalink
Howard B. Owens

Intent is a very hard thing to prove. That's why one of the felony assault counts against Jaquatta Simmons was dismissed. Not enough evidence to support intent.

Sep 26, 2014, 9:42am Permalink
Peggy Dominiak

Tom Hunt, this was not his parent's home. And there has to be more to this story. It is very fishy, the residents did not contact authorities for 3 hours after the incident.

Sep 26, 2014, 11:17am Permalink
Jennifer Keys

I can imagine a scenario where I might not call the police initially. I think that someone who would smash so many windows and pour gas into a house with people inside likely has some issues, possibly mental health? If I knew the person who did this to my house and thought that it was simply smashed windows I would probably look for him/her to talk to to try to help them rather than get police involved. If I then realized that it was more than smashed windows I would likely contact the police.

Has anyone talked to the victims? Do we really know they went back to bed? I thought I read somewhere that we didn't know why it took them so long to contact the police. Maybe they didn't really go back to bed.

Why do we feel the need to question victims motives?

Just a few thoughts...

Sep 26, 2014, 6:59pm Permalink

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